Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: Advanced Concrete Materials for Water and Wastewater Pipeline Repair and Construction

EPA Contract Number: 68D02088
Title: Advanced Concrete Materials for Water and Wastewater Pipeline Repair and Construction
Investigators: Langan, Timothy
Small Business: CeraTech Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: October 1, 2002 through July 31, 2003
Project Amount: $96,477
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2002) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: SBIR - Water and Wastewater , Watersheds , Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)

Description:

CeraTech, Inc.'s PaveMend™ rapid-setting cementitious materials were evaluated as repair materials and/or coatings for the repair of stormwater pipe. The anticipated goal was to develop a very rapid-setting repair product that would protect rebar steel in pipes in very harsh operational environments. Phase I testing did not validate the hypothesis. Beams with embedded rebar were produced using PaveMend™ and conventional concrete. The beams were saturated with a salt water solution for 4 months.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

Inconclusive results showed that PaveMend™ products exhibited very high corrosion currents (several times higher than currents expected in conventional concrete). The corrosion potential in the PaveMend™ was measurable within the first week of exposure to the chloride environment. Despite these measurements, the PaveMend™ products exhibited no cracking, and rebar corrosion was minimal given the measured corrosion currents. Direct measurements of the PaveMend™ product showed that the product exhibited a high electrical conductivity.

Conclusions:

Phase I results were inconclusive. Although a small amount of rebar corrosion was measured, it did not correlate with the measured corrosion currents. The permeability of the PaveMend™ product, together with its high electrical conductivity, may actually be acting as a protective mechanism against accelerated corrosion. This observed phenomenon may hold promise for a new type of impressed cathodic protection of rebar. Although these results warrant continued research, measured success against the original program goals did not warrant submission for Phase II funding.

Supplemental Keywords:

PaveMend, stormwater pipe, concrete, conductivity, rapid repair cement, rebar corrosion, cathodic protection, small business, SBIR., Sustainable Industry/Business, Scientific Discipline, Water, Chemistry and Materials Science, Wastewater, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Environmental Engineering, concrete, clean technology, pollution prevention, product design, environmentally conscious manufacturing, construction material, phosphate based concrete, recycled building material, wastewater pipeline, pipeline repair, cleaner production, wastewater pipeline repair