PRODUCT CAPABLE OF INHIBITING THE CORROSION OF THE REINFORCEMENTS PRESENT IN CONCRETE OR CEMENT MORTAR AND RELATED PROCESS

Abstract: Chromite by-products having a composition which includes FeCr2O4 as well as iron, aluminum, magnesium, sodium, calcium and silica oxides are directly mixed with cement mortar and with the aggregates on use (or else added to the water of the concrete castings) producing the effect of corrosion inhibition of the steel reinforcements.

Description: "PRODUCT CAPABLE OF INHIBITING THE CORROSION OF THE REINFORCEMENTS PRESENT IN CONCRETE OR CEMENT MORTAR AND RELATED PROCESS" This invention deals with a product which inhibits the corrosion of reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar and the relative process. The phenomenon of the corrosion of the steel of reinforced concrete 5. is today the main worry of builders. The steel immersed in the concrete, thanks to the strongly alkaline environment, should be protected by a passivating coat; actually in presence of external agents which perturb with time, the passivations are lacking and an electrochemical process of corrosion 10. starts for which oxidation products are formed at the iron-concrete interface; such products have a much greater volume, up to 6.5 times the original volume, thus producing an explosive destruction of the concrete coating of iron. The negative effects of such a 'phenomenon can be specified in three 15. different forms: - degrading of the structure due to the progressive reduction of the sections; - build up of internal pressures created by increasing volume due to the transformation of iron in iron oxides which may overcome the 20. concrete's resistance to tensile stress; - cracking corrosion under stress which leads to formations of fine cracks in the reinforcing rods, such cracks being extended perpendicularly to the axis of the rods and being invisible from the outside, these crackings being able to cause unexpected breakages. The main things responsible for this phenomenon seem to be carbon dioxide (CO ) present in the air and the chlorides; to these the 5. occasional facts due to particular environmental situations can be added. The CO causes, penetrating by diffusion or partial overpressure through the pores of the concrete, a transformation reaction of the hydroxides in carbonates: 10. Ca (OH) When the phenomenon reaches the steel, areas lacking protection are formed in which presumably the iron dissolves like Fe (II) and precipitates again as hydroxide, thus starting the formation of the so called rust. 15. The chlorides are instead present in the aggregates, in the water contained in the cast concrete and can also penetrate from the outside. When they reach the steel by diffusion they break the passivating superficial coat starting an electrochemical process in which the anode is the surface of the no longer passivated steel and 20. the cathode is the remaining passivated surface. Macroscopic examples of the degradation which has been described can be found in the areas where chlorinated products are used to prevent the ice formation and in areas which are in some way influenced by a sea environment. At the present time in order to prevent this phenomenon specific additives are used which slow down the corrosion, like for example, the addition of products capable of forming a passivating coat on 5. the steel. The aim of this invention is that of providing an inhibitor of the corrosion of the reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar which can be easily and economically obtained and just as easily used. 10. it has now been discovered that an intermediate of the production of the chromates, is very good at inhibiting the corrosion of the reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar. Such a product is the chromite earth. Such intermediate is formed by roasting mixes containing chromites 15. at high temperatures 500-1300°C, and a successive thermal treatment by immersion in water or aqueous solutions at room temperature. The positive action of this product comes from the concomitant action of various factors and does not involve processes which after some time would damage the structure of the concrete. One of the 20. processes which presumably takes place, is the release, with the lowering of the pH, of small amounts of chromates which, reacting with the iron, form compounds of the Cr 0 x Fe 0 type which protect the iron from a further corrosion. Furthermore it has been found that the chromite earth, if added in suitable amounts to the 25. mixture, is capable of delaying the corrosion by at least 4 times. The aim of the invention has been carried out by using the chromite earth as a passivator. Normally it has a weight composition included in the fields indicated below: 5. 10. In order to obtain such a product one usually starts from a chromium mineral added with alcalization means of the Ca(OH) type. As an example a starting mixture containing 2% in weight of Ca(OH) can reach a content of transferable cromates equal to about 1.5% of the weight of the product. As has been said it is actually these 15. chromates which inhibit the corrosion. % The product is a solid usually with granulometry under 100 microns. However there aren't particular superior limits for as far as the granulometry is concerned, but this depends on the requirements of the single client (should the production of chromates be less 20. important with respect to the inhibitor of corrosion) . Such a product can be provided loose, to mix with the cement and the aggregate when used, or packed in sacks mixed with the cement, as long as it doesn't react when in dry conditions. The latter solution appears to be very suitable in the case of small repairs. Examples of tests carried out in laboratories to simulate a process of oxidation and passivation in the iron. EXAMPLE 1 Corrosion tests have been carried out on a series of iron samples, each one about 100g in stirred reactors containing a 1% HCL solution 5. with a pH in the range between 0.5 and 1, keeping the solution weight/sample weight ratio, which is typical of corrosions. The corrosions were made to take place at room temperature for 480 hours. The iron samples gave on average a perforation of ranging from 8.5 and 9.00 mm/year. EXAMPLE 2 10. Corrosion tests have been carried out on a series of iron samples, each one about 100g in stirred reactors containing a 1% HCL solution and containing 30% of chromite earth, keeping the solution weight/ sample weight ratio of example 1. The corrosions were made to take place at room temperature for 480 hours. 15. The samples of iron gave on average a perforation ranging from 1.5 and 2.0 mm/year.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A product capable of inhibiting the corrosion of the reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar, characterized in that it is made of exhausted chromite earths derived from the production of chromates. 5. 2. A product according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a composition in weight included in the fields indicated below: 10. 3. A product capable of inhibiting the corrosion of the % reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar, characterized 15. in that it is derived from the production of the refractories or of by-products of such working. 4. A product according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is a solid which has a granulometry generally less than 100 microns. 20. 5. A process capable of inhibiting the corrosion of the reinforcements contained in concrete or mortar of cement, characterized in that they are used as additives in the manufacture of the exhausted chromite earth cement mixes derived from the production of chromates, as well as derived from the production of the refractories or of by-products of such working. 5. 6. A process to reduce the corrosion of the reinforcements contained in concrete or cement mortar, characterized in that the product according to claims 1 to 4 is added in quantities from 1 to 10 parts in weight for 100 parts of cement. 7. A process according to claim 6, characterized in that the 10. inhibitor is added to the mixing water according to claims 1 to 4. 8. A process according to claim 6, characterized in that the inhibitor according to claims 1 to 4 is added as such to the aggregates.

Inventors: BRUZZONE GIUSEPPE, PERRONE DIEGO, SPERATI ALESSANDRO, BRUZZONE, GIUSEPPE, PERRONE, DIEGO, SPERATI, ALESSANDRO
Applicants: STOPPANI LUIGI SPA, LUIGI STOPPANI S.P.A.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: C23F11
IPC codes: C04B18, C04B22, C23F11, E04C5