Patent ID: 8535583
Filing Date: 2013-09-17
Classification: B01F,B29B,C04B

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing a hydraulic binder product which includes the steps of: (i) introducing an unfoamed aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution, comprising 2% to 10% by weight of a fully hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol with a degree of hydrolysis of 97% to 99.5% and a molecular weight of 105 000 and 175 000 g/mol, which aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution does not having a gelling agent that is capable of chemically reacting and forming an association in the form of a complex compound with the polyvinyl alcohol, into a blender; (ii) introducing a hydraulic binder into the blender and hydrating the hydraulic binder such that a mixture of the hydraulic binder and the polyvinyl alcohol solution is obtained in which the polyvinyl alcohol solution is present in a concentration of between 4% and 20% in water; (iii) introducing a gelling agent, capable of chemically reacting and forming an association in the form of a complex compound with the polyvinyl alcohol in the aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution, into the blender separately from the aqueous polyvinyl alcohol solution, with the gelling agent reacting with the polyvinyl alcohol in the polyvinyl alcohol solution and thereby causing the polyvinyl alcohol to gel cohesively such that its viscosity increases and it thereby envelops the hydraulic binder; (iv) shearing the gelled polyvinyl alcohol enveloping the hydraulic binder in the blender through mixing with the gelled polyvinyl alcohol enveloping the binder product becoming granulated in a form in which it has lost substantially all tack and is non-sticky, thereby to obtain an unprocessed hydraulic binder product; and (v) processing the unprocessed hydraulic binder product by any one or more of pressing, rolling and extruding, thereby to obtain a processed hydraulic binder product.