Omya Construction

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Dry Mortar
Applications
Mineral Additives
Mineral Additives for
Dry Mortar Applications
Mortars are generally applied as a bonding material,
whereas concrete's primary use is structural support. Dry
mortars are sold as a powder and offer a much longer
shelf life than wet mortars. Wet mortar typically comes
premixed, while dry mortar powder is mixed on-site.
Dry mortar also has a much lower water content than
standard mortar.
Omya offers a broad range of products and expertise
for the wide array of dry mortar applications including
facades, tiling, flooring, and technical mortars.
Omya's range of Mineral Plasticizers and Mineral
Accelerators, which are based on high purity Ground
Calcium Carbonate (>90%), adds value by focusing on
improved final product characteristics.
Key Benefits
· Optimization of packing density
· Better flow
· Improved early age strength
· Contributes to a more sustainable
dry mortar formulation
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Mineral Plasticizers
Betocarb HP is a mineral solution containing Calcium
Carbonate that optimizes the fines content (<125 µm)
to prevent bleeding and segregation of self-leveling
compound (SLC). It also improves the color and surface
texture of architectural concrete.
Betocarb F is a Fine Ground Calcium Carbonate that
reduces porosity and improves the early age strength of
technical mortar.
Betoflow D is dedicated to SLC, technical mortars,
and 3D printing to enhance flow behavior and reduce
the water/ cement ratio. Due to its low water demand,
Betoflow D can be used in combination with SCM and
pigments to optimize the chemical additive content.
Mineral Accelerator
Betocarb UF is a pure, Ultrafine Ground Calcium
Carbonate acting as a mineral accelerator by providing
nucleation sites. It is recommended for use in CTA
(Ceramic tiles adhesives), SLC (Self-leveling compound),
and 3D printing applications.
Mineral Additives with
Low Carbon Footprint
Calcium Carbonate only has a carbon footprint of
62 kg emitted per ton of natural ground calcium
carbonate (GCC) produced. Omya’s Mineral
Additives can therefore lower the carbon footprint
of your dry mortar application considerably
compared to formulations without Omya Mineral
Additives.

Natural Products
for Sustainability

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 How to find the Right Product
for your Application
Solutions for Facades & External Wall Insulations
Renders and plasters need to serve both decorative and functional purposes. To meet the aesthetic
demands of customers, textured renders and plasters require mineral particles with high brightness
and various diameters.

Omya's Calcium Carbonates and other mineral products are ideal for formulations that have these
specific requirements.

Solutions for Ceramic Tile Adhesives & Natural Stones

Modern design trends in residential and large scale construction projects have led to greater
expectations in how tiles are used and bonded to substrates. When installing ceramic tiles, the use
of a ceramic tile adhesive will make the application easier. CTA formulations can contain up to 50%
of various Omya Calcium Carbonate products to provide the right consistency.

Solutions for Flooring Systems

Self-leveling mortar and overlayment for old and new interior and exterior floors at a thickness of
5-50 mm. It can be applied manually or by a pump to produce self-smoothing that corrects uneven
floors, repairs damaged concrete or produces a flat substrate prior to the application of the final
floor finish.

Technical Mortars
Technical Mortars can be used for a wide range of applications and requirements in highway
maintenance, concrete repair and major infrastructure projects. The global trend of 3D printing
concretes will lead to developments of new technical mortars, where functional minerals such as
Betocarb UF and Betoflow D will play a major role.

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Facade Ceramic Tile Flooring Technical
Solutions Adhesive (CTA) Solutions Mortars

Generally, our Mineral Additives can be recommended for these applications:

Mineral Mineral
Standard Plasticizers Accelerator

Applications Betocarb Betocarb HP Betocarb F Betoflow D Betocarb UF

Facade Solutions √

Ceramic Tile Adhesive (CTA) √ √

Flooring Solutions √ √ √

Technical Mortars √ √ √ √

Betocarb UF
Ultrafine GCC
fe ng
ef edi

Mineral Accelerator
MB
*
ct
Se

Betocarb HP
GCC
HP
F
Mineral Plasticizers
MB
MB F
Betoflow D
High Performance Fine GCC
Mineral Plasticizers
HP
Betocarb F F
Fine GCC F
MB
Mineral Plasticizers
HP
MB = Mineral Binder

* Seeding effect: The very low particle size (meaning a large available surface) of the Ground Calcium Carbonate Betocarb UF provides a high number of nucleation
sites for the cement particles.
It will not only fill the voids between cement grains, but also accelerate the hydration process and improve the workability, mechanical properties and durability
through the dilution, nucleation and even chemical effects.

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 Optimize your Formulation with
Omya Evaluation Methods
In order to clearly distinguish between the five product lines, Omya invented a series of
performance evaluation methods, the so-called LG methods (lab method for GCC). Generally,
the following methods can be recommended depending on your application:

LG LG
Applications System LG 16 LG 10 Pigment LG 7

Facade Solutions √

Ceramic Tile Adhesive (CTA) √ √

Flooring Solutions √ √ √ √

Technical Mortars √ √ √ √ √

If you are looking for a specific parameter to enhance, we can recommend using the following
methods for your formulation:

LG
Benefits Methods Description

In self-leveling systems, define the best pro-

Packing, flow behaviour,
resistance to segregation
portion of GCC and Fine GCC to obtain the
LG
optimal packing, flow behavior and resistance to
System
segregation. Useful to evaluate also the chemical
additive and mineral binder compatibility.

In self-leveling systems, evaluate the contribution

Flow behaviour, additive of the mineral filler (Fine GCC and SCMs) on the
LG 16
correction, strenght flow behavior, necessary chemical additive cor-
rection and compressive strength of the mortars.

In a paste-like consistency mortar, measure the

Flow behavior, flow behavior and minerals contribution to the
LG 10
mineral activity strength development (GCC, Fine GCC, UFGCC
and SCMs) in combination with mineral binder.

In self-leveling systems, evaluate the pigment

contribution on the flow behavior, necessary
Pigment evaluation, LG
chemical additive or Betoflow D adjustment.
flow behaviour Pigment
Useful to demonstrate the color enhancement
by using GCC with LGsystem.

Place a slurry of GCC that is prepared with an

acrylic polymer in a beaker and observe if the
Risk of discoloration LG 7
bleeding pushes some fine colored particles to
the surface.

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7
 Product Positioning

Betoflow D
Workability

Betocarb HP Betocarb F

Betocarb Betocarb UF

Early Strength

Mineral Additive

Mineral Plasticizers Mineral Accelerator

Our Quality Promise

We actively support our customers in the optimization
of their formulation through our high technical expertise as
well as through unique and in house developed tools (i.e.
LG methods) and always focus on our customer's specific
requirements or needs.
· Ground Calcium Carbonate in a consistent,
high purity (>90%) and quality
· Consistent particle size distribution
· Omya Calcium Carbonate significantly
exceeds the requirements of existing standards
(e.g. EN 13139 - Aggregates for Mortar)

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Mineral Additive Value Pyramid
Finding the right functional filler, according to your quality requirements
Product description Quality requirements

Betoflow D, a fine GCC,

Mineral Platicizer with
Omya Mineral Additives
improved flow properties
(functional fillers)
based on Ground Guaranteed, consistent
Calcium Carbonate Betocarb UF, an Omya GCC quality:
Betoflow D,
· CaCO3 > 90% (high purity)
(GCC) Betocarb UF ultrafine GCC, · T OC < 0.2%
Mineral Accelator · 1 Methylene Blue Value < 3g/kg
(low clay content prevents
increased water demand or
Fine GCC, admixture incompatibilities)
Betocarb F ·C  onsistent particle size
Mineral Platicizer
distribution

GCC,
Betocarb HP
Mineral Platicizer

Total carbonate content > 90%

Betocarb Ground Calcium Carbonate 2 Consistent quality and particle
size distribution
Standard
Grades
Filler according to EN 13139 - 70% < 0.063 mm
Aggregates for Mortar 85% < 0.125 mm
100% < 2 mm

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In certain cases Dolomite

The standard EN 13139 (Aggregates for Mortar) does not specify any quality requirements for fillers, except some basics
on the fineness. However, certain parameters of a filler (purity, clay content, TOC) play an important role in performance
of the final mortar product. Omya guarantees high and consistent quality for its Mineral Additives (see quality pyramid)
which yields a vast performance improvement compared to standard grades.

Methylene Blue Value: Methylene Blue is a dye which absorbs on surfaces of clay particles. The methylene blue value [g/kg] represents the amount of dye which
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is absorbed by the sample and thus gives an indication about the clay content . Clays play an important role in mortar and concrete applications because they
can heavily disturb the performance: the high surfaces of clays increase the water demand very strongly and can yield to incompatibility problems with chemical
additives (e.g. PCE superplasticizers). Therefore the methylene blue value of the product (GCC) should be as low as possible (low clay content).

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 Positioning by
Early strength
Characteristics improvement

3
Reduced Improved
segregation 2 workability
1

Improved Improved
water-cement packing/
ratio* stability

Betocarb Betocarb HP Betocarb F Betoflow D Betocarb UF

* Thanks to their purity, Omya products offer an excellent compatibility with additives used to improve the water cement ratio

Mineral Plasticizers: Betocarb HP, Betocarb F and Betoflow D

Mineral Accelerator: Betocarb UF
Standard Grade: Betocarb

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Cost Performance Scenario and Impact on Sustainability

Scenario: Self Levelling Compound (SLC)

Standard with Betoflow D
60% 100%

4% cost reduction
50%
% of material used

40% 95%
Cost

30%

20% 90%

10%

3.5
1.0 0.30 0.30 1.0 0.25 0.18
0% 85%
Lower the carbon
Mineral binder

Sand

Organic binder

Betoflow D

Superplasticizer

Water retention agent

Mineral binder

Sand

Organic binder

Superplasticizer

Water retention agent

footprint of your dry

mortar formulation
up to 30%*

Performance improvement:
Increases segregation resistance, improves workability/ productivity, reduces costs & CO2

The reference (left) represents a standard Self Levelling Mortar for- *Sources:
mulation. By adding Betoflow D (right), such a mix design can be op- Cement: MPA (https://cement.mineralproducts.org/documents/Factsheet_18.pdf)
timized to achieve a better flow while even increasing the resistance Sand, aggregate, water: Ecoinvent
to segregation. It allows to adjust also the content of superplasticizer GCC: CCA
and water retention agent. Consequently, the formulation costs and the other constituents (chemical additives) are estimated.
the carbon footprint of the mix design are significantly reduced.

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Betocarb HP, Betocarb F, Betoflow D, Betocarb UF and Betocarb are registered
trademarks of Omya AG in the European Union and multiple other countries.

Omya International AG, Baslerstrasse 42, CH-4665 Oftringen, e-mail: drymortar@omya.com

Omya has taken every possible care to ensure that the information herein is correct in all aspects. However, Omya cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may be
found herein, nor will it accept responsibility for any use which may be of the information, the same having been given in good faith, but without legal responsibility. This information
does not give rise to any warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, including fitness for purpose and non-infringement of intellectual property. The technical information presented
comprises typical data and should not be taken as representing a specification. Omya reserves the right to change any of the data without notice.

Source: Omya International (2021/01) EN