Process for the manufacture of a grout for concrete

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a grout for concrete comprising a stage of mixing a hydraulic binder and water, characterized in that the process comprises a stage of deep freezing the water in the solid form.

Claims

1. A process for the manufacture of a grout for concrete, comprising: a stage of mixing a hydraulic binder and water; and a stage of deep freezing the water to solid form, wherein the water is solidified prior to the mixing stage, the solidified water being reduced to a powder, the water powder exhibiting a particle size which is less than the particle size of the hydraulic binder.

2. The process of claim 1, in which, during the deep freezing stage, the water is maintained at a temperature of less than 0 Celsius.

3. The process of claim 1, comprising a stage of addition of an adjuvant.

4. The process of claim 1, further comprising: a stage of storage of the grout at low temperature of less than or equal to 0 Celsius.

5. The process of claim 1, further comprising: a stage of warming the solidified water and hydraulic binder mixture to a sufficiently high temperature for the water to become liquid, this stage being subsequent to the mixing stage and to the deep freezing stage.

6. A process for the manufacture of a grout according to claim 1, in which the grout is utilized for the coating of nuclear waste.

7. A process for the manufacture of a grout according to claim 1, in which during the deep freezing stage, the water is maintained at a temperature of less than or equal to 18 Celsius.

8. A process according to claim 1, comprising a stage of storage of the grout at low temperature of less than or equal to 18 Celsius.

9. A grout for concrete comprising: a mixture of a hydraulic binder and water in which the water is in a solid form, the solid water being reduced to a powder, the water powder exhibiting a particle size which is less than the particle size of the hydraulic binder.

10. The grout for concrete of claim 9, in which the mixture comprises one or more adjuvants.

Description

(1) The process for the manufacture of a grout for concrete according to the invention comprises a stage of mixing a hydraulic binder and water and is characterized in that the process comprises a stage of deep freezing the water in the solid form.

(2) Deep freezing is understood to mean cooling water to a temperature which is sufficiently low for the water to be in the solid form.

(3) Preferably, this temperature, referred to as temperature for deep freezing the water, is less than or equal to 0 Celsius and preferably at a temperature of less than or equal to 18 Celsius.

(4) These low temperatures make it possible to ensure that the chemical reaction for the hydraulic setting of the binder is suspended.

(5) The hydraulic binder is of inorganic origin and/or is a biomaterial, such as, for example, cement.

(6) The hydraulic binder is provided in the powder form, that is to say that it is composed of solid particles.

(7) Advantageously, the manufacturing process comprises a stage of cooling the hydraulic binder to a temperature substantially equal to the temperature for deep freezing the water. This stage makes it possible to shorten the thermalization time of the mixture comprising the hydraulic binder and the water since the water and the binder are at the same temperature.

(8) According to a first embodiment, the water is solidified prior to the mixing stage. The solidified water is then reduced to a powder. Powder is understood to mean that the water is in the form of solid particles.

(9) Advantageously, the water powder exhibits a particle size of the same order of magnitude as the particle size of the hydraulic binder.

(10) Thus, the mixture between the binder and the water is a mixture of homogeneous particle size.

(11) Alternatively, the water powder exhibits a smaller particle size than the particle size of the hydraulic binder.

(12) In this case, it is possible more quickly to suspend the chemical reaction for setting of the hydraulic binder by the water.

(13) The particle size of the hydraulic binder is variable and can comprise particles with a size of the order of a few hundred micrometers to less than one micrometer.

(14) According to a second embodiment, the deep freezing stage takes place simultaneously with the mixing stage.

(15) Thus, the chemical reaction for hydraulic setting began and is suspended by the cold, and it is the mixture of the binder and the water which is solidified.

(16) Subsequently, the process comprises a stage of converting the solidified mixture into a powder. Powder is understood to mean that the mixture of water and of binder, already set in part, is composed of solid particles.

(17) The stage of converting into a powder can, for example, be a grinding stage.

(18) The manufacturing process, according to the first or according to the second embodiment, advantageously comprises a stage of addition of one or more adjuvants, such as, for example, a water repellent.

(19) The process can comprise a stage of storing the grout at low temperature, of less than or equal to 0 Celsius, preferably of less than or equal to 18 Celsius. This stage makes possible a delayed use of the grout.

(20) Advantageously, the manufacturing process comprises a stage of warming the solid water and hydraulic binder mixture to a temperature which is sufficiently high for the water to become liquid, this stage being subsequent to the mixing stage and to the deep freezing stage. This stage makes possible the immediate use of the liquid grout.

(21) The grout can, for example, be warmed naturally by thermalization with the ambient air or warmed forcibly, by the action of heating rods or by infrared or microwave radiation.

(22) Another subject matter of the present invention is a grout for concrete comprising a mixture of a hydraulic binder and water, in which the water is in the solid form.

(23) Advantageously, as already explained, the mixture comprises one or more adjuvants.

(24) The present invention has a particularly advantageous application in the coating and the confining of one or more materials. It is thus possible to coat nuclear waste.

(25) This application thus makes it possible to store nuclear waste in the form of grout, the nuclear waste having been coated in the warmed grout.