Patent ID: 6866761

Claim:
A method for dehydrating a porous material using electra-osmosis, comprising the steps of: applying a pattern of D.C. voltage pulses to an anode system embedded in the porous material, the anode system being electrically interactive with a cathode structure embedded in earth, wherein the pattern of D.C. voltage pulses has a pulse period T in a range front about 3 to about 60 seconds, and each pulse period T includes a positive pulse duration of T+ from about 0.7 T to about 0.97 T, a negative pulse duration of T− from about 0.01 T to about 0.05 T, and a neutral pulse duration of T p from about 0.02 T to about 0.25 T, and wherein each pulse period includes at least two positive pulses T 1 + and T 2 + separated by first and second neutral pulses T p 1 and T p 2, and the pulses in the order of occurrence in the period T are T 1 +, T p 1, T 2 +, T− and T p 2.