Patent Application
20130033955
The present invention relates generally to processes and apparatuses for making concrete and concrete products. More particularly, the present invention relates to processes and apparatuses for making concrete using water that has been treated with electricity, electrical currents and/or ozone.
Concrete is used in a large variety of construction projects, including commercial and residential buildings, highways, bridges, towers, dams, pools, parking structures, pipes, fences and many more structures. Important characteristics of concrete in such structures include its durability, strength and longevity. These characteristics can be compromised by various factors as concrete is mixed or while fabricating structures from concrete, as well as by external factors, such as exposure of the concrete to ice, salt, chemicals and other natural and man-made substances.
Regarding strength, particularly for vertical placements formed from concrete, such as pre-cast structures, walls and columns, steel reinforcements, such as rebar and tension cables, are commonly used to enhance the tensile strength of the vertically oriented structures. In horizontal placements, such as for highways and foundations, durability and longevity become major problems, because the concrete structures are exposed more directly to rain, snow, ice, salt and other chemicals. Degradation of the concrete can occur rapidly when exposed to such elements, resulting in deterioration, peeling, pot marks and general strength reduction. When concrete deteriorates, its structural integrity, as well as its appearance, can be affected.
Concrete is a composite construction material composed primarily of aggregate, cement and water. The aggregate is generally a coarse gravel or crushed rock, mixed with sand. The cement, is typically a mixture of oxides of calcium, silicon and aluminum and a source of sulfate, usually gypsum. Cement serves as a binder for the aggregate. Water is a key ingredient in that it enables the material to flow so the concrete can be shaped prior to curing and hardening. The water also enables the cement to bind the aggregate and make an extremely hard material when cured.
Many attempts have been made to improve the strength and durability of concrete. Various additives have been included in the mix with scattered results. Some additives are included for other reasons. Accelerators speed up hydration, retarders slow it down. Plasticizers can serve as water reducers, and bonding agents facilitate bonding between old and new concrete.
The relative proportion of aggregate, cement and water has been found to affect the strength and the durability of concrete products. For example, if less water is used, up to a point, the result will generally be a stronger, more durable product. More water will provide a more free flowing concrete but with a higher slump and can lead to premature deterioration. Coarser aggregate generally tends to increase the strength of concrete. However, larger aggregate tends to not distribute as evenly as sand, particularly in the presence of vibration, which can cause undesirable strength gradients throughout the concrete. It has also been found that premixing water and cement before adding aggregate can increase the compressive strength of the concrete.
Despite the above improvements, the problems of durability and strength persist. Weakened concrete, and the damage it causes to infrastructures, such as buildings and bridges, can be particularly critical problems, as has been seen in recent years with the untimely collapse of buildings and bridges and the resulting death and destruction.
The present invention relates to methods and processes for increasing the strength, durability and longevity of concrete structures. In various embodiments, the present invention includes methods for making concrete. Such methods comprise charging water to generate ions and/or other charged particles. The resulting water may be referred to as “charged water.” The charged water is mixed with with aggregate and cement. In addition, the present invention involves a system for making concrete, comprising means for charging water with ions and/or other charged particles to form charged water, and means for mixing the charged water with aggregate and cement.
Other aspects, as well as features and advantages of various aspects, of the disclosed subject matter will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art through consideration of the ensuing description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.
In the drawings:
The disclosed embodiments of the present invention utilize processes that apply an electrical current or electrical charges to water or that otherwise introduce ions into water. Such processes may be used to prepare water that is to be used to make concrete or they may be applied to a concrete slurry after mixing. The result is substantially stronger and more durable concrete. The process by which that result is achieved is not entirely understood, but it is believed that applying electricity to water or a water mixture during the concrete-making process causes some electrolysis of the water, that is, a separation of water into unstable hydrogen and oxygen components. These components include H+, OH−, O3, O2, H2, H2O2, H3O+ and many others.
Most of these components are unstable, and quickly react with whatever suitable reactants are available to form more stable molecules. As water typically has impurities in it, the application of electricity may also generate ions from the impurities. It is believed that the presence of ions in the charged water tends to interact with the cement and aggregate to accentuate the binding process carried out by the slurry mixture.
As an example, some cement has a combination of tri-calcium silicates and bi-calcium silicates, both of which are candidates to combine with the aggregates. Typically, tri-calcium silicates react quicker and build structure faster than the bi-calcium silicates because tri-calcium silicates are more likely to bond than bi-calcium silicates. The result might be that 80-90% of the tri-calcium silicates form a bond, whereas only about 15-20% of the bi-calcium silicates bond. Thus, the total bonding potential of the cement is not fully realized.
Using the processes of the present invention, many additional ions are present, as described above, so that a high percentage of the bi-calcium silicates will bond, as well as the tri-calcium silicates. The result is concrete that may be almost twice as strong as standard concrete prepared from the same batch. Thus, the present invention has the potential to make extremely strong concrete using ordinary batches of cement and aggregate.
One of the above mentioned unstable components, O3 or ozone, can be generated independently of electrolysis, using conventional ozone generators such as corona discharge generators or cold plasma generators. In addition to ozone, ozone generators may generate ions and/or free radicals. Cold plasma generators are particularly well suited for generating ozone and, possibly, ions and/or free radicals, for use in a method of the present invention, since they do not require an appreciable current and there is no arcing or burnout when they are used to form ozone.
In one embodiment, an ozone generator may communicate with the flow of water used for making cement. As a result, ozone and possibly ions and/or free radicals may be injected into the water. The charged water is then combined with other materials, primarily cement and aggregate that may be used for making concrete. After the components of the concrete are combined, including the charged water, the concrete can be poured in any application.
In another embodiment, water is exposed to an electrical charge or an electrical current prior to mixing the water with cement and other materials (e.g., aggregate, other components of the concrete being formed, etc). The manner in which an electrical charge or current is applied to water may be accomplished in several different ways. The electrical charge or current may be applied as alternating current, as direct current or some variation of both. After the various components of the concrete are combined, including charged water, the concrete can be poured in any application.
In yet another embodiment, ozone, ions and/or an electrical charge or electrical current may be applied to a concrete slurry after the water and some or all of the other components that are used to make concrete have been mixed. In still another embodiment, water that has been exposed to an electrical charge or an electrical current or to ozone may be added, by spray or otherwise, to concrete shortly after the concrete has been poured (i.e., while at least some of the exposed concrete is uncured, before any significant curing of the exposed concrete occurs, etc.).
Because of the manner in which ozone chargers provide ozone, and possibly ions and/or free radicals, they may be used to charge water or water mixtures before the water is mixed with other components and/or after mixing the water with other components. Ozone may be generated in or an electrical charge or current may be applied to water or water mixtures as they flow through electrically charged elements, such as a cathode-charged pipe with water running therethrough and having an anode-charged tube inside the pipe. As an alternative, ozone may be generated or an electrical charge or current may be applied to water in a static water tank for a selected period of time.
Referring to
The electrical current generated by generator 120 is provided via line 122 to a converter unit 126, which converts the electricity from generator 120 to a type of electrical current that is appropriate for the water treatment system 100. The treated electricity then flows on line 128 to the water treatment system 102.
Looking now at
A water inlet 250 is connected to base joint 214 to provide access for water flow to pipe 242. A connection tube 252 is connected between top cap 222 of pipe 212 and the base joint 234 of the next pipe 214. Likewise, additional connection tubes 254, 256 and 258 are connected between the top caps 224, 226 and 228 of the respective pipes 214, 216 and 218. Connection tube 258 runs from the last pipe unit 208 to conduct water out of water treatment bank 200.
In bank 200, there are also electrical wires that connect the four pipe units 202, 204, 206 and 208 in electrical series. However, the electrical connections are set up in each pipe unit with a first input into the first of the rods and a second input into the last of the pipes. Consequently, there is no electrical current flow until water flows through the pipes to conduct current from each rod to its respective pipe.
Specifically, an electrical input wire 260 connects from an external power source (not shown) into a terminal 270 at the top of top cap 222 associated with pipe 212. Another wire 262 runs from a base terminal 271 at the bottom of pipe 212 to a top terminal 272 on top cap 224. A wire 264 runs from a base terminal 273 on pipe 214 to a top terminal 274 on top cap 226. Another wire 266 runs from a base terminal 275 to a top terminal 276 on top cap 228. Finally a second input wire 268 runs to a base terminal 277 for the water treatment bank 200.
It can be seen that water flows serially through the pipe units 202, 204, 206 and 208. The water flow begins at inlet 250 and flows into pipe unit 202 via base cap 232, up through pipe 212 and out tube 252. The water flow continues into pipe unit 204 via base cap 234, up through pipe 214 and out tube 254. Next the water flows into pipe unit 206 via base cap 236, up through pipe 216 and out tube 256. Finally water flows into pipe unit 208 via base cap 238, up through pipe 218 and out of tube 258.
The electrical current being applied is the positive and negative pulsating DC power from the converter shown in
In the foregoing system discussed with respect to
In one embodiment of the system shown in
It should be appreciated that several factors are in play, including the size of the pipes and rods, the amount of electrical current and voltage being applied, the pumping speed of the water and the electrolyte content of the water. It is important to balance all of these variables in order to achieve optimal exposure of the water to the electrical current so that the desired amount of charged ions are created in the water to increase the hardness of the resulting concrete. For example, the supplied current may vary from 4 amps to 124 amps and beyond, if needed. The flow rate of the pumped water may vary from 4 gallons per minute up to, and even above, 25 gallons per minute. The size and number of the pumps and rods can vary over an unlimited range.
Accordingly pipe units 302, 304, 306 and 308 are electrically connected in parallel rather than in series. It has been determine that this type of electrical connection does not enable the rods and pipes to change from anodes to cathodes. As a result, the deterioration of the pipes and rods is substantially more rapid than with the series connected system shown in
A test run was performed using the water treatment bank of series four electrically-charged water pipes shown in
The treated water was run through the through the bank of four water pipes and then collected, which required about three minutes. The amount of treated water was initially 2,000 milliliters (ml) (30% of the dry volume), that is about 0.5 US gallons. The treated water was immediately mixed with about 25 pounds cement composition taken from a 60 pound bag of dry mix of concrete, sand and gravel or stone sold as QUIKRETE® 1101. However, the resulting batch was too thick, so 500 ml more treated water was applied (total 41.7% of dry volume), for a total of 2,500 ml, or about 0.66 US gallons. Mixing was done with a small conventional portable mixer. The resulting slurry was then placed in two core sample canisters (4 inches diameter, 8 inches in length) to cure.
Untreated tap water in a volume of 1,800 ml (30% of dry volume), or about 0.48 US gallons, was mixed with about 25 pounds of cement composition taken from the same 60 pound bag of dry mix of concrete, sand and gravel or stone sold as QUIKRETE® 1101. Mixing was done with the same portable mixer. The resulting slurry was likewise placed in two core sample canisters of the same size as for the treated samples.
There was a noticeable difference in the formation of the concrete slurries. The slurry batch formed with the treated water reacted more aggressively with the concrete composition than the untreated water, which is why more treated water was needed for the treated batch. Moreover, more water came to the surface during curing for the treated batch, making it easier to work and finish with a trowel.
In both cases, the ambient temperature was about 50° F. The core samples were placed in an enclosure after mixing and remained at about 72° F. for 24 hours.
The samples were tested by AGEC Applied Geotech in Sandy, Utah for breakage. One of each sample was broken 8 days after batching and the other of each sample was tested 28 days after batching. The results are given as follows:
Thus, after 8 days, the concrete made with the treated water was 194% as strong as the concrete made with the untreated water, both in compression strength and in maximum load. After 28 days, the concrete made with treated water, in testing for both compression strength and maximum load, was 195% as strong as the concrete made with the untreated water. It was also noted that the concrete made from treated water had substantially no shrinkage, whereas the concrete made from untreated water had noticeable shrinkage.
In another embodiment of the present system, an electrical current is applied to a concrete slurry after water has been mixed with the concrete mix and any additionalaggregate. This electrical treatment of the slurry can be in addition to or in place of the electrical charging of the water discussed above.
The concrete slurry may be treated in a stand-alone unit or included as part of a concrete truck system in a mobile application. In the concrete truck mobile system, the mixed slurry may be placed in a cement truck for transportation to a site for installation. The batched slurry is fed into a hopper on the pump truck. The hopper has a mixer that drives the slurry into the bottom of the hopper prior to pumping. The hopper feeds the concrete through a pump that applies pressure to a pipe column, forcing the concrete slurry through a lubricated pipe.
Referring now to
As the slurry passes between the long plates 404, 406 on the inside of the pipe 402, the slurry is charged by the electrolysis conditioning process described above. When the slurry comes out of the dump truck pipes, it has been treated according to the present invention.
Referring next to
A test run was performed using an ozone generator, as shown in
The water was treated by injecting ozone from the ozone generator through a diffuser into five gallons of water for about 11 hours. One gallon of the treated water was then mixed with 60 pounds of QUIKRETE® cement composition. The resulting slurry showed excellent workability and was collected into three sample canisters of the type discussed in Example 1.
A gallon of untreated water was mixed with 60 pounds of QUIKRETE® cement composition. The resulting slurry did not demonstrate workability that was as good as the slurry with the treated water. Additionally, it was more difficult to mix the water with the cement composition, compared to the slurry with the treated water.
The samples were tested by CMT Engineering Laboratories in Salt Lake City, six days after mixing. The documented results showed that the concrete sample made with water treated with ozone broke at 3,064 psi. The concrete sample made with untreated water broke at 1,292 psi. Thus, the concrete made with ozone treated water yielded a 137% increase in strength over, or 237% as strong as, the standard concrete.
Other embodiments of the present invention may involve combining any of the systems shown in this application to enhance the water treatment further. For example, referring to
It should be understood that the order of processing shown in
Referring to
Tank 600 may be equipped with other items, such as a propeller (not shown) to move the water around and thereby enhance the charging effect of the system. Additional plates may be added as needed. Moreover, it should be understood that the tank system shown in
A five gallon plastic tank was filled with water. Two electrodes were attached to a 6,000 watt generator of DC power providing about 30 amps of current. The electrodes were inserted into the water, and the water was treated by placing the activated electrodes in the tank for about 3 to 5 minutes. The treated water was then mixed with a bag of QUIKRETE® concrete mix and with additional aggregate and cured to form an improved concrete sample. The same process was followed with untreated water and the same concrete mix and aggregate to form a standard concrete sample. The improved concrete sample showed 25% greater strength than the standard concrete sample using standard psi measurements. Both samples were subjected to salt, freeze and thaw conditions for 20 days. At the end of the trial period, the improved concrete sample was still intact, and the standard concrete sample had deteriorated into sand and gravel.
The same approach as that described in reference to EXAMPLE 1 was used, except a 12 volt, 300 amp battery charger was used to apply electrical current through the electrodes to the tank of water for about 20 hours. Substantially the same results were achieved, showing that the improved concrete sample was much better than the standard concrete sample.
The same batch of water, aggregate and concrete mix was used as that disclosed in reference to EXAMPLE 3. However, standard untreated water was used to form the mixture. After the components were mixed, while the mixture was still in a flowable state, an electrical current of the type described in EXAMPLE 3 was applied to the mixture. The result was that the improved concrete sample was only about 5 to 7% stronger than the standard concrete sample.
As can be seen from the foregoing, various embodiments of the present invention provide substantial improvements over prior systems. Electrical charging of water can be carried out by electrolysis in a pipe flow system, an electrolysis tank and any other conventional electrolysis system. In addition, water may be treated using an ozone generator to introduce ozone into the water. Further a concrete slurry may be treated using to above mentioned methods. Any combination of the foregoing processes may also be used to treat water prior to mixing it with cement and/or concrete or to treat a slurry of water and cement or concrete.
The result of any of the foregoing processes provides a substantially improved concrete, both in hardness and in durability, for very little additional cost.
Although the above embodiments are representative of the present invention, other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification and the appended claims, or from a practice of the embodiments of the disclosed invention. It is intended that the specification and embodiments therein be considered as examples only, with the present invention being defined by the claims and their equivalents.
A claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) is hereby made to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/486,768, filed on Jun. 13, 2011, titled “Concrete Product,” the entire disclosure of which is, by this reference, hereby incorporated herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61486768 | Jun 2011 | US |
