Hardened hydraulic cement, ceramic or coarse concrete aggregate treated with high pressure fluids
First Claim
1. A method for changing a characteristic of a hardened cement matrix, the method comprising the steps of providing a monomer, a polymer initiator and a solvent for one of the monomer and the polymer initiator, dissolving the one of the monomer and the polymer initiator in the solvent, placing the other one of the monomer and the polymer initiator on an inside of the matrix, infusing the solvent and the monomer or polymer initiator dissolved therein into the matrix under supercritical conditions, and reacting the monomer and the polymer initiator inside the matrix.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The properties of cement matrices are improved by one or more of the three processes, which can be performed individually, sequentially, or in any desired combination. In each instance a supercritical fluid is or includes a solvent for one of two (or more) reactants such as a monomer and a polymer initiator. The resulting mixture is infused into the matrix under supercritical conditions. The other reactant is placed into the matrix; for example, by incorporating it in the wet cement paste prior to curing. When the mixture is infused into the matrix, the reactants react and change the cement matrix in predictable, desired ways. The solvent itself may or may not be supercritical, and if it is not, it is mixed with a supercritical fluid, which might or might not be another solvent. In this manner, the inside of the matrix may be coated and/or sealed with a polymer, for example, or the entire cement matrix may be rendered relatively flexible and ductile.
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8 Claims
- 1. A method for changing a characteristic of a hardened cement matrix, the method comprising the steps of providing a monomer, a polymer initiator and a solvent for one of the monomer and the polymer initiator, dissolving the one of the monomer and the polymer initiator in the solvent, placing the other one of the monomer and the polymer initiator on an inside of the matrix, infusing the solvent and the monomer or polymer initiator dissolved therein into the matrix under supercritical conditions, and reacting the monomer and the polymer initiator inside the matrix.
Specification