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A method of producing cementitious mixtures containing fly ash as one of the cementitious components, under air entrainment conditions. The method involves forming a mixture comprising water, cement, fly ash, optionally other cementitious materials, aggregate, conventional chemical admixtures, and an air entrainment agent and agitating the mixture to entrain air therein. Additionally, at least one sacrificial agent is also included in the mixture. The sacrificial agent is a material or mixture of materials that is not required to act as an air entrainment agent but interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that otherwise neutralize, repress or depress the activity of the air entrainment agent. The invention includes cementitious mixtures and hardened concretes resulting from the method and fly ash treated with sacrificial agent, or air entrainment agent/sacrificial agent combinations, and processes for selecting suitable sacrificial agents.
1. An air-entraining cementitious mixture comprising fly ash or another combustible ash that reduces or eliminates the effect the fly ash or other combustible ash has on air entrainment in the air-entraining cementitious mixture; the air-entraining cementitious mixture comprising air, water, cement, fly ash, an air entrainment agent and a sacrificial agent,
wherein the sacrificial agent is present in at least an amount necessary to neutralize the detrimental effects of components of the fly ash or the other combustible ash on air entrainment activity in the air-entraining cementitious mixture, the sacrificial agent comprising a material or mixture of materials that, when present in a cementitious mixture without fly ash or another combustible ash in said amount causes less than 2 vol. % additional air content in the cementitious mixture,
wherein the sacrificial agent comprises an organic compound, with the proviso that the sacrificial agent does not comprise polyethylene glycol (PEG) or aromatic compounds having carboxylic acid groups, or salts thereof.
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50. An air-entraining cementitious mixture comprising fly ash or another combustible ash that addresses the variance of carbon content in fly ash used in cementitious compositions to provide a cementitious composition with a substantially constant level of air entrainment, the air-entraining cementitious mixture comprising air, water, cement, fly ash, an air entrainment agent and a sacrificial agent,
wherein the sacrificial agent is present in at least an amount necessary to neutralize the detrimental effects of components of the fly ash or the other combustible ash on air entrainment activity in the air-entraining cementitious mixture, the sacrificial agent comprising a material or mixture of materials that, when present in a cementitious mixture without fly ash or another combustible ash in said amount causes less than 2 vol. % additional air content in the cementitious mixture,
wherein the sacrificial agent comprises an organic compound, with the proviso that the sacrificial agent does not comprise polyethylene glycol (PEG) or aromatic compounds having carboxylic acid groups, or salts thereof.
51. An air-entrained hardened cementitious mass comprising fly ash or another combustible ash that reduces or eliminates the effect the fly ash or other combustible ash has on air entrainment in the air-entrained hardened cementitious mass, the air-entrained hardened cementitious mass comprising air, cement, fly ash, an air entrainment agent and an amount of a sacrificial agent, wherein the sacrificial agent is present in at least an amount necessary to neutralize the detrimental effects of components of the fly ash or the other combustible ash on air entrainment activity in the air-entraining cementitious mixture, the sacrificial agent comprising a material or mixture of materials that, when present in a cementitious mixture without fly ash or another combustible ash in said amount causes less than 2 vol. % additional air content in the cementitious mixture,
wherein the sacrificial agent comprises an organic compound, with the proviso that the sacrificial agent does not comprise polyethylene glycol (PEG) or aromatic compounds having carboxylic acid groups, or salts thereof.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/762,762, filed Jan. 22, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,485,184, which is related to commonly owned provisional application Ser. No. 60/442,048, filed Jan. 24, 2003, and claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of this application under 35 U.S.C. �119(e). The disclosure of provisional application Ser. No. 60/442,048 is incorporated hereby by reference in its entirety.
I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of sacrificial agents in fly ash concrete and similar cementitious mixtures, and to the resulting mixtures and compositions. More particularly, the invention relates to sacrificial agents that reduce or eliminate detrimental effects of fly ash on the air entrainment properties of fresh concrete and similar mixtures.
II. Background Art
The partial replacement of portland cement by fly ash is growing rapidly, driven simultaneously by more demanding performance specifications on the properties of concrete and by increasing environmental pressures to reduce portland cement consumption. Fly ash can impart many beneficial properties to concrete such as improved rheology, reduced permeability and increased later-age strength; however, it also may have a negative influence on bleed characteristics, setting time and early strength development. Many of these issues can be managed by adjusting mixture proportions and materials, and by altering concrete placement and finishing practices. However, other challenging problems encountered when using certain fly ash are not always easily resolved. The most important difficulties experienced when using fly ash are most often related to air entrainment in concrete.
Air entrained concrete has been utilized in the United States since the 1930's. Air is purposely entrained in concrete, mortars and grouts as a protective measure against expansive forces that can develop in the cement paste associated with an increase in volume resulting from water freezing and converting to ice. Adequately distributed microscopic air voids provide a means for relieving internal pressures and ensuring concrete durability and long term performance in freezing and thawing environments. Air volumes (volume fraction) sufficient to provide protective air void systems are commonly specified by Building Codes and Standard Design Practices for concrete which may be exposed to freezing and thawing environments. Entrained air is to be distinguished from entrapped air (air that may develop in concrete systems as a result of mixing or the additions of certain chemicals). Entrained air provides an air void system capable of protecting against freeze/thaw cycles, while entrapped air provide no protection against such phenomena.
Air is also often purposely entrained in concrete and other cementitious systems because of the properties it can impart to the fresh mixtures. These can include: improved fluidity, cohesiveness, improved workability and reduce bleeding.
The air void systems are generated in concrete, mortar, or paste mixtures by introducing air entrainment admixtures (referred to as air entrainment agents or air-entraining agents) which are a class of specialty surfactants. When using fly ash, the difficulties in producing air-entrained concrete are related to the disruptive influence that some fly ashes have on the generation of sufficient air volumes and adequate air void systems. The primary influencing factor is the occurrence of residual carbon, or carbonaceous materials (hereafter designated as fly ash-carbon), which can be detected as a discrete phase in the fly ash, or can be intimately bound to the fly ash particles. Detrimental effects on air entrainment by other fly ash components may also occur, and indeed air entrainment problems are sometimes encountered with fly ash containing very low amounts of residual carbon.
Fly ash-carbon, a residue of incomplete coal or other hydrocarbon combustion, is in many ways similar to an 'activated carbon'; as typical of the latter, fly ash-carbon can adsorb organic molecules in aqueous environments. In cement paste containing organic chemical admixtures, the fly ash-carbon can thus adsorb part of the admixture, interfering with the function and performance of the admixture. The consequences of this adsorption process are found to be particularly troublesome with air entrainment admixtures (air entrainment agents) which are commonly used in only very low dosages. In the presence of significant carbon contents (e.g. >2 wt %), or in the presence of low contents of highly reactive carbon or other detrimental fly ash components, the air entrainment agents may be adsorbed, interfering with the air void formation and stability; this leads to tremendous complications in obtaining and maintaining specified concrete air contents.
To minimize concrete air entrainment problems, ASTM guidelines have limited the fly ash carbon content to less than 6 wt %; other institutions such as AASHTO and State departments of transportation have more stringent limitations. Industry experience indicates that, in the case of highly active carbon (for example, high specific surface area), major interferences and problems can still be encountered, even with carbon contents lower than 1 wt %.
Furthermore, recent studies indicate that, while fly ash carbon content, as measured by loss on ignition (LOI) values, provides a primary indicator of fly ash behaviour with respect to air entrainment, it does not reliably predict the impact that a fly ash will have on air entrainment in concrete. Therefore, there currently exist no means, suitable for field quality control, capable of reliably predicting the influence that a particular fly ash sample will have on air entrainment, relative to another fly ash sample with differing LOI's, sources, or chemistries. In practice, the inability to predict fly ash behaviour translates into erratic concrete air contents, which is currently the most important problem in fly ash-containing concrete.
Variations in fly ash performance are important, not only because of their potential impact on air entrainment and resistance to freeze thaw conditions, but also because of their effects related to concrete strength. Just as concrete is designed according to Building Standards for a particular environment, specifications are also provided for physical performance requirements; a common performance requirement being compressive strength. An increase in entrained air content can result in a reduction in compressive strength of 3-6% for each additional percentage of entrained air. Obviously, variations in fly ash-carbon, which would lead to erratic variations in air contents, can have serious negative consequences on the concrete strength.
The fly ash-carbon air entrainment problem is an on-going issue that has been of concern since fly ash was first used nearly 75 years ago. Over the past ten years, these issues have been further exacerbated by regulations on environmental emissions which impose combustion conditions yielding fly ash with higher carbon contents. This situation threatens to make an increasingly larger portion of the available fly ash materials unsuitable for use in concrete. Considering the economic impact of such a trend, it is imperative to develop practical corrective schemes which will allow the use, with minimal inconvenience, of fly ash with high carbon contents (e.g., up to 10 wt %) in air-entrained concrete.
Air entrainment in fly ash-concrete may become yet more complicated by pending regulations that will require utilities to reduce current Hg emissions by 70-90%. One of the demonstrated technologies for achieving the Hg reduction is the injection of activated carbon into the flue gas stream after combustion so that volatile Hg is condensed on the high surface area carbon particles and discarded with the fly ash. Current practices are designed such that the added activated carbon is generally less than 1% by mass of the fly ash, but preliminary testing indicates this is disastrous when using the modified fly ash in air-entrained concrete.
The origin of air entrainment problems in fly ash concrete, and potential approaches to their solution, have been the subject of numerous investigations. Most of these investigations focussed on the 'physical' elimination of the carbon by either combustion processes, froth floatation, or electrostatic separation. To date, the proposed fly ash treatment approaches have found limited application due to their inherent limitations (e.g., separation techniques have limited efficiency in low carbon fly ash; secondary combustion processes are most suitable for very high carbon contents), or clue to their associated costs.
"Chemical" approaches have also been proposed to alleviate carbon-related problems in concrete air entrainment, for example through the development of alternative specialty surfactants for air entrainment agents such as polyoxyethylene-sorbitan oleate as an air entrainment agents (U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,978). Various other chemical additives or fly ash chemical treatments have been proposed, namely:
While each of the proposed solution may have potential merit, none has found significant acceptance in the industry, either because of their complexity and cost, or because of their limited performance in actual use. For example, a clear limitation to the addition of a second surfactant (e.g., C8 fatty acid salt), to compensate for the adsorption of the air entrainment agents surfactant, simply shifts the problem to controlling air content with a combination of surfactants instead of a single one. The problem of under- or over-dosage of a surfactant mixture is then the same as the problem discussed above with conventional air entrainment agents.
Hence, no practical solution currently exists which could efficiently relieve air entrainment problems for a wide variety of fly ash materials, in ready mix facilities or in the field.
An object of the present invention is to facilitate the formation of cementitious mixtures containing fly ash, and solid products derived therefrom.
Another object of the invention is to facilitate air entrainment into such mixtures in a reliable and predictable fashion.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing an air-entraining cementitious mixture containing fly ash, comprising the steps of: forming a mixture comprising water, cement, fly ash, (and optionally other cementitious components, sand, aggregate, etc.) and an air entrainment agent (and optionally other concrete chemical admixtures); and entraining air in the mixture; wherein an amount of at least one sacrificial agent is also included in the mixture, the at least one sacrificial agent being a material that, when present in the mixture in the amount, need not itself act as an air entrainment agent and interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that otherwise neutralize activity of the air entrainment agent, thereby permitting the air entrainment agent to function to entrain air in the mixture.
The amount of the sacrificial agent used in the cementitious mixture preferably exceeds the amount necessary to interact with all of the components of the fly ash. Thus, if the fly ash varies in content of the detrimental components from a minimum content to a maximum content according to the source or batch of the fly ash, the amount of the sacrificial agent preferably exceeds the amount necessary to interact with all of the detrimental components of the fly ash when present at their maximum content.
The sacrificial agent is preferably an aromatic organic compound bearing one or more sulfonate, carboxylate or amino group, and combinations of such groups, a glycol or glycol derivate having molecular weights of about 2000 Da or less, and any combination thereof. More preferably, the sacrificial agent is benzylamine, sodium 1-naphthoate, sodium 2-naphthalene sulfonate, sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate, sodium cumene sulfonate, sodium di-butyl naphthalene sulfonate, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, ethylene glycol methyl ether, butoxyethanol, di-ethylene glycol butyl ether, di-propylene glycol methyl ether, polyethylene glycol and 1-phenyl 2-propylene glycol or a combination thereof. A combination of ethylene glycol phenyl ether and sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate is particularly preferred, wherein the relative proportion of the ethylene glycol phenyl ether and the sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate may vary in weight ratio from 1:5 to 50:1, and preferably in the range of about 1:1 to 20:1.
Even more preferably, the sacrificial agent is a compound selected from alcohols, diols, polyols, ethers, esters, carboxylic acids, carboxylic acid derivatives, aromatic sulfonates, amines, alcoholamines, amides, ammonium salts, and polyglycols, particularly those for which LogKow is in the range of −3 to +2 (more preferably −2 to +2), and/or the HLB value is in the range of 5 to +20.
The total dosage of these combined sacrificial agents may vary widely. While there is no theoretical limit to the dosage of sacrificial agents (some may be added to considerable excess without detrimental effect), the practical maximum dosage would be that at which some property of the mixture, e.g. setting time, fluidity, bleeding, etc., would be affected significantly. With some sacrificial agents, this could be as high as 0.5% by weight of the cementitious material; if typically the fly ash constitutes 25 wt % of the cementitious material, the corresponding maximum dosage by wt of the fly ash would thus be 2.0%. From a cost perspective, depending on the particular sacrificial agent and other factors, the practical upper limit may commonly be in the order of 0.2% by weight of the cementitious material.
Preferably, the dosages vary from 0.01% to 0.5% by weight of cementitious materials (cement and fly ash) depending on the type and composition of the fly ash; more preferably the total dosage is in the range of 0.01% to 0.2%. In terms of the concentration of sacrificial agents relative to the fly ash, the total dosage is preferably from 0.01% to 1% by weight (wt/wt), or more preferably 0.02% to 0.5% by weight, or 0.02% to 0.2% by weight. Concentration relative to fly ash is important when the sacrificial agent is added first to the fly ash. If, typically, the fly ash is added in an amount of 30:70 by weight relative to the cement, a concentration range of 0.1% to 0.2% by weight fly ash would then translate to a range of 0.03% to 0.06% by weight of the cementitious material.
The sacrificial agent may be added to the air entrainment agent prior to mixing the air entrainment agent with the fly ash, cement and water. Alternatively, the sacrificial agent may be added to the fly ash prior to mixing the fly ash with the cement, water and the air entrainment agent. In the latter case, the sacrificial agent may be added to the fly ash by spraying a liquid containing the sacrificial agent onto the fly ash, or by blending a spray-dried solid sacrificial agent formulation with the fly ash.
Alternatively, the sacrificial agent may be added after the fly ash cement, water and conventional air entrainment agent have been mixed together.
The invention also relates to an air-entraining cementitious mixture produced by the process as described above, and a hardened mass of cementitious material produced by setting and hardening the air entrainment cementitious mixture.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an air-entraining cementitious mixture containing air, water, cement, fly ash, an air entrainment agent and an amount of sacrificial agent, the sacrificial agent being a material that, when present in the mixture in the appropriate amount, does not itself act as an air entrainment agent to a substantial amount (i.e. less than 2% vol of air entrainment), but interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that neutralize the activity of the air entrainment agent, thereby permitting the air entrainment agent to function to entrain air as if the components were not present in the fly ash.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an air-entraining (air-entrained) hardened cementitious mass containing air, water, cement, fly ash, an air entrainment agent and an amount of at least one sacrificial agent, the sacrificial agent being a material that, when present in an amount in a mixture, which is a precursor of the hardened mass, does not itself act as an air entrainment agent but interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that neutralize the activity of the air entrainment agent, thereby permitting the air entrainment agent to function to entrain air as if the components were not present in the fly ash.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mixture (composition) suitable for use as a component of fly ash concrete or mortar, the mixture comprising fly ash and at least one sacrificial agent, the sacrificial agent being a material that does not itself act as an air entrainment agent when mixed with cement powder, an air entrainment agent and water, but interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that neutralize activity of the air entrainment agent, thereby permitting the air entrainment agent to function as if the components were not present in the fly ash.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a mixture suitable for use as a component of fly ash concrete or mortar, the mixture comprising an air entrainment agent and at least one sacrificial agent, the sacrificial agent being a material that does not itself act as an air entrainment agent when mixed with cement powder and water but interacts preferentially with components of the fly ash that neutralize activity of the air entrainment agent, thereby permitting the air entrainment agent to function as if the components were not present in the fly ash.
The invention additionally relates to a mixture of sacrificial agents for use in the preparation of an air entrainment fly ash concrete, the mixture comprising a combination of ethylene glycol phenyl ether with or without the addition of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and other typical air entrainment admixture surfactants.
The invention also relates to methods of selecting suitable sacrificial agents from candidate compounds.
In one form of the present invention, compounds suitable as sacrificial agents may be compounds other than aromatic carboxylic acids or salts thereof (specifically hydroxyl-substituted aromatic carboxylic acids and salts, e.g. benzoic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid and their salts, or salicylic acid, m-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and their salts (e.g. lithium salicylate)). In such a form of the invention, these compounds are specifically excluded from the scope of claim.
In another form of the present invention, compounds suitable as sacrificial agents may include aromatic carboxylic acids or salts thereof (specifically hydroxyl-substituted aromatic carboxylic acids and salts, e.g. benzoic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid and their salts, or salicylic acid, m-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, and their salts (e.g. lithium salicylate)).
As noted above, the invention concerns the novel uses of selected chemical additives, labelled "sacrificial agents" to eliminate or drastically reduce air entrainment problems encountered in concrete containing fly ash. Such additives, or combinations of such additives, may be added before (e.g. in the fly ash material), during, or after the concrete mixing operation. The use of these materials has the following advantages, at least in preferred forms of the invention. They:
The acceptability of 'over dosage' of these sacrificial agents is a key preferred feature of the present invention, at least in its main forms, since large fluctuations in fly ash properties (carbon content, reactivity, etc.) can be accommodated by introducing a moderate excess of these sacrificial agents without causing other problems. This provides operators with a substantial trouble-free range or 'comfort zone'.
The cementitious mixtures of the present invention may contain conventional ingredients such as sand and aggregate, as well as specific known additives.
The term "fly ash", as defined by ASTM C 618 (Coal Fly Ash or Calcined Natural Pozzolan For Use in Concrete) refers to a by product of coal combustion. However, the present invention may employ similar combustion products which are fine ashes or flue dusts resulting from co-firing various fuels with coal, or resulting from the combustion of other fuels that produce an ash having pozzolanic qualities (the ability to form a solid when mixed with water and an activator such ash lime or alkalis) or hydraulic qualities (the ability to form a solid when mixed with water and set). The ash itself has pozzolanic/hydraulic activity and can be used as a cementitious material to replace a portion of portland cement in the preparation of concrete, mortars, and the like. In general, the term fly ash as used herein includes:
The term "fly ash concrete" means concrete containing fly ash and portland cement in any proportions, but optionally additionally containing other cementitious materials such as blast furnace slag, silica fume, or fillers such as limestone, etc. The proportions in which fly ash is typically used in concrete is well known to persons skilled in the art and is often in the range of 20-40% by weight of cementitious materials and may go up to 60 to 80% in so-called High Volume Fly Ash concrete.
The term "surfactants" is also well understood in the art to mean surface active agents. These are compounds that have an affinity for both fats (hydrophobic) and water (hydrophilic) and so act as foaming agents (although some surfactants are non-foaming, e.g. phosphates), dispersants, emulsifiers, and the like, e.g. soaps.
The term "air entrainment agent" (AEA) means a material that results in a satisfactory amount of air being entrained into a cementitous mixture, e.g. 5-9 vol % air, when added to a cementitious formulation. Generally, air entrainment agents are surfactants (i.e. they reduce the surface tension when added to aqueous mixtures), and are often materials considered to be soaps.
The mode of action of air entrainment agents, and the mechanism of air void formation in cementitious mixtures are only poorly understood. Because of their influence on the surface tension of the solution phase, the surfactant molecules are believed to facilitate the formation of small air cavities or voids in the cementitious paste, by analogy to formation of air 'bubbles'. It is also believed that the wall of these voids are further stabilized through various effects, such as incorporation into the interfacial paste/air layer of insoluble calcium salts of the surfactants, or of colloidal particles (see References 1-3 at the end of this description).
The performance of surfactants as concrete air entrainment admixture depends on the composition of the surfactant: the type of hydrophilic group (cationic, anionic, zwitterionic, or non-ionic), the importance of its hydrophobic residue (number of carbon groups, molecular weight), the chemical nature of this residue (aliphatic, aromatic) and the structure of the residue (linear, branched, cyclic), and on the balance between the hydrophilic and lipophilic portions of the surfactant molecule (HLB). Cationic and non-ionic surfactants were reported to entrain more air than anionic surfactants because the latter are often precipitated as insoluble calcium salts in the paste solution; however, the stability of the air void has also been reported to be greater with anionic surfactant than with cationic or non-ionic surfactants. Typical examples of compounds used as surface active agents are sodium salts of naturally occurring fatty acid such as tall oil fatty acid, and sodium salts of synthetic n-alkylbenzene sulfonic acid. As noted in Reference 2 at the end of this description, common concrete air entrainment (or air-entraining) agents include those derived from the following anionic surfactants: neutralized wood resins, fatty acids salts, alkyl-aryl sulfonates, alkyl sulfates.
The term "sacrificial agent" (SA) means a material, or a mixture of materials, that preferentially interacts with (and/or neutralizes the detrimental effects of) components of fly ash that would otherwise interact with an air entrainment agent and reduce the effectiveness of the air entrainment agent to incorporate air (or other gas) into the cementitious mixture. The sacrificial agents, need not be 'surfactants' nor 'air entrainment agents' and, in the amounts used in the cementitious mixture, must not themselves act to entrain more than nominally 2 vol % additional air (more desirably less than 1 vol % additional air) into a similar control mixture containing no fly ash. Preferably, the sacrificial agent, in the amounts employed in fly ash-containing mixtures, is responsible for introducing substantially no air into a similar control mixture containing no fly ash. The sacrificial agent should also preferably not reduce the ability of the air entrainment agent to incorporate air (i.e. they should preferably not have a "defoaming" effect). Ideally, the sacrificial agent should preferably neither promote nor inhibit the functioning of the air entrainment agent compared with its functioning in a similar mixture containing no fly ash.
The term "cementitious mixture" means a mixture such as concrete mix, mortar, paste, grout, etc., that is still in castable form and that, upon setting, develops into a hardened mass suitable for building and construction purposes. Likewise, the term "cement" means a product (other than fly ash) that is capable of acting as the principal hardenable ingredient in a cementitious mixture. The preferred cement is, of course, portland cement, but at least a portion may include blast furnace slag, gypsum, etc.
The term "second protocol rating" means a rating awarded to a compound according to the procedure set out later in this description under the heading "SECOND PROTOCOL TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL SACRIFICIAL AGENTS".
The term "percent" or "%" as used herein in connection with a component of a composition means percent by weight based on the cementitious components (cement powder and fly ash) of a cementitious mixture (unless otherwise stated). When referring to air content, the term % means percent by volume or vol %.
In the following description, reference is made to air entrainment in concrete and cementitious mixtures. It will be realized by persons skilled in the art that other inert gases, such as nitrogen, that act in the same way as air, can be entrained in concrete and cementitious mixtures. The use of air rather than other gases is naturally most frequently carried out for reasons of simplicity and economy. Techniques for entraining air in cementitious mixtures using air-entraining agents are well known to persons skilled in the art. Generally, when an air entrainment agent is used, sufficient air is entrained when the ingredients of the mixture are simply mixed together and agitated in conventional ways, such as stirring or tumbling sufficient to cause thorough mixing of the ingredients.
As noted earlier, air entrainment problems in fly ash concrete have been traced to undesirable components contained in the fly ash materials, particularly residual carbon. These fly ash components can adsorb and/or react or interact with the air entrainment agent (surface active compounds, e.g. soaps) used for entrainment air in concrete, thereby neutralizing or diminishing the functionality of such agents and consequently reducing the uptake of air. Up to the present, the industrial approach to dealing with these air entrainment problems consisted in adding higher dosages of the air entrainment agents in order to overwhelm the deleterious processes. Because the quantities of detrimental components in fly ash can vary greatly among fly ashes from different sources, or for a fly ash from any particular source at different times, the current practices lead to other complications, namely in assessing the adequate dosage of air entrainment agents to achieve a specified air content, in maintaining the specified air content over adequate time periods, in guarding against excessive entrained air contents that would detrimentally impact concrete strength and durability, in obtaining specified air void parameters, etc. In particular, the fact that excessive dosages of the air entrainment agent can result in excess air entrainment and subsequent reduction in concrete compressive strength, is particularly serious and a major disadvantage of the prior approach.
To address the above problems, the inventors of the present invention developed the concept of using a different class of material (i.e. something other than an air entrainment agent) to neutralize or eliminate the effect of the harmful components of fly ash on the air entrainment agent. The inventors surmised that such a material would have to act preferentially (i.e. when present at the same time as the air entrainment agent, or even after the contact of the air entrainment agent with the fly ash, they would interact with the fly ash), and that they would not themselves act to entrain air in significant amounts or to harm the setting action or properties of the cementitious material in the amounts employed. The inventors have now found certain classes of chemical compounds (additives) capable of "neutralizing" the detrimental fly ash components, while having little or no influence on the air entrainment process provided by conventional air entrainment agents and having no adverse effects on the properties of the concrete mix and hardened concrete product. Such chemical additives, referred to herein as "sacrificial agents", introduced into the mixture at an appropriate time, render fly ash concrete comparable to normal concrete with respect to air entrainment. The finding of economically viable chemical additives of this type, as well as practical processes for their introduction into concrete systems, constitutes a major advantage for fly ash concrete technologies.
In order to confirm this approach to the problem and to identify suitable additives, the inventors designed a broad research program to investigate the origins of air entrainment problems in fly ash concrete, and chemical solutions to alleviate these problems. The program comprised a broad base study on pastes, mortars and concrete containing cement only and fly ash-cement mixes, with various fly ashes exhibiting a wide range of carbon contents (represented by loss-on-ignition—LOI) values and physico-chemical properties. Extensive testing was carried out on air entrainment in fly ash concrete under standard industrial practices; the work included studies on the impact of candidate sacrificial agents, on the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, and investigations of possible interactions between these agents and other common chemical additives (admixtures) used in concrete technology. The experimental protocols and key results of this program are presented below and the same protocols may be employed to identify further sacrificial agents suitable for use in the present invention, as detailed more specifically in following sections.
For practical reasons, namely effectiveness, solubility in mixed formulations of sacrificial agents and cost, it has been found that the following classes of compounds are the most suitable, namely: alcohols, glycol ethers, polyglycols, aromatic sulfonates, esters and alcoholamines, alkyl carboxylates, and also aromatic compounds bearing sulfonate groups, carboxylate groups, amino groups or combinations of such groups, and low molecular weight glycols and glycol derivates (i.e. those having molecular weights of 2000 Da or less, preferably 1500 Da or less), and combinations of such compounds. By testing a variety of compounds as potential sacrificial agents, it has been discovered that the following compounds, in particular, are effective as sacrificial agents to varying degrees: benzylamine, sodium 1-naphthoate, sodium 2-naphthalene sulfonate, sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate, sodium cumene sulfonate, sodium di-butyl naphthalene sulfonate, ethylene glycol phenyl ether, ethylene glycol methyl ether, butoxyethanol, di-ethylene glycol butyl ether, di-propylene glycol methyl ether, polyethylene glycol and 1-phenyl 2-propylene glycol. All of these compounds, and others mentioned later in this description, are known and commercially available from suppliers of organic chemical (e.g. from Aldrich, Rutgers, Stepan, Anachemia, Baker, BDH, Eastman, Fisher, Mallinckodt, Polysciences, Pfaltz & Bauer, TCI, etc., all of which are well known suppliers of chemicals to persons in this field of art). They are preferably used in pure or substantially pure form.
It has been found that these compounds may be used alone or in any combination. However, specific combinations are particularly effective and synergistic effects may occur with certain combinations. A particularly effective combination of sacrificial agents is ethylene glycol phenyl ether and sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate. When combinations of sacrificial agents are employed, they may be used in any relative proportion, but the total amount employed most preferably falls within the range of 0.01 to 0.5 wt % of the cementitious components of the mixture, and more preferably 0.01 to 0.2 wt %. Because of the surfactant properties and high effectiveness of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate, it is preferable to keep the amount low and to use another sacrificial agent, e.g. ethylene glycol phenyl ether, to achieve an optimum activity against the harmful components of the fly ash without causing air entrainment. In such cases, the dosage of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate relative to ethylene glycol phenyl ether is preferably within the range of 1:20 to 1:2, respectively, by weight. In some cases, it may be advantageous to mix a sacrificial agent having different HLB values (e.g. high and low values) to produce a combined sacrificial agent mixture that is approximately neutral in its effect on the entrainment of air in the mixture. In this way, it may be possible to use highly active sacrificial agents that would otherwise interfere too much with the entrainment of air.
The amounts of such sacrificial agents should be sufficient to preferentially neutralize the harmful components of the fly ash that adsorb or react with the air entrainment agents. The required minimum dosage may be determined experimentally through air entrainment protocols since, as discussed earlier and shown below, the deleterious effects of fly ash components are not directly related to their carbon content or LOI. However, it is a particular advantage of the present invention that the sacrificial agents may be used in reasonable excess over the neutralizing amounts without entrainment of excess air (or reduction of such entrainment) or harming the concrete mixture or the subsequent setting action or properties of the hardened concrete. This means that an amount can be determined which exceeds the neutralizing amount required for a fly ash containing the highest amount of the harmful components likely to be encountered, and this amount can then be safely used with any fly ash cement mixture. Typically, as noted above, the minimum amount of sacrificial agent employed is usually about 0.01% by weight of total cementitious materials (cement and fly ash).
The sacrificial agents of the present invention may be added at any time during the preparation of the concrete mix, but are preferably added before or at the same time as the air entrainment agents so that they may interact with the fly ash before the air entrainment agents have an opportunity to do so. The mixing in this way may be carried out at ambient temperature, or at elevated or reduced temperatures if such temperatures are otherwise required for particular concrete mixes. The sacrificial agents may also be premixed with the fly ash or with the air entrainment agent.
It is particularly convenient to premix the sacrificial agent with the fly ash because the sacrificial agent may commence the interaction with the harmful components of the fly ash even before the cementitious mixture is formed. The sacrificial agent may simply be sprayed or otherwise added in liquid form onto a conventional fly ash and left to be absorbed by the fly ash and thus to dry. If necessary, the sacrificial agent may be dissolved in a volatile solvent to facilitate the spraying procedure. Fly ash treated in this way may be prepared and sold as an ingredient for forming fly ash cement and fly ash concrete.
Surprisingly, it has also been found that the sacrificial agent is even effective when added after the mixing of the other components of the cementitious mixture (including the air entrainment agent). The inventors cannot explain this observation but it appears that the sacrificial agent may reverse any preliminary deactivation of the air entrainment agent caused by contact with the fly ash, and thus reactivate the air entrainment agent for further air entrainment. It is observed, however, that the beneficial effect of the sacrificial agents is somewhat lower when added at this stage rather than when added before or during the mixing of the other components.
As noted above, an important feature of the present invention is that the chemical additives used as sacrificial agents are not required to be effective air entrainment agents in the amounts employed, so that they do not contribute directly to air entrainment and can thus also be used in normal concrete containing no fly ash. This confers on the sacrificial agents the particularly important feature that these sacrificial agents can be introduced at dosages higher than the minimum dosage required to restore normal air entrainment without leading to erratic air entrainment and excessive air entrained levels. If one of the sacrificial agents used in a combination of sacrificial agents exhibits some surfactant (air entrainment) properties, it should preferably be proportioned in such a way that the combination of sacrificial agents will entrain less than 2% air (more preferably less than 1% air, and ideally substantially no air), above the control values, in normal concrete without any fly ash. That is to say, when a concrete formulation is produced without fly ash, but with an air entrainment agent, the extra amount of air entrained when a sacrificial agent is added represents the extra air entrained by the sacrificial agent. The amount of air entrained in a cementitious mixture can be measured by determination of specific gravity of the mixture, or other methods prescribed in ASTM procedures (ASTM C231, C173, C138—the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference).
Typical concrete air entrainment agents are n-dodecylbenzene sulfonate salts (referred to as Air 30) and tall oil fatty acid salts (referred to as Air 40). The typical dosage range of these ingredients in portland cement concrete mixes is 0.002 to 0.008 wt % of the cementitious components, resulting in the entrainment of 6-8 vol % air.
Other essential components of the cementitous mixtures of the present invention are water, cement and fly ash. These may be used in proportions that depend on the type of material desired (e.g., pastes, grouts, mortars, concrete) and on the required fresh and hardened properties of the finished material. Such systems and their composition, as well as equipment and protocols for their preparation, are well known in the art; for mortars and concrete, these are adequately described in standard reference texts, such as ASTM Cement and Concrete (e.g., 4.01, 4.02); Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures—Portland Cement Association; and American Concrete Institute—Manual of Concrete Practice (the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference). For pastes, the composition and preparation equipment and protocols will be described in detail in following sections. In practice, the content of various ingredients in a cementitious mixture are often reported as weight ratios with respect to the cement or to the total cementitious materials when other cementitious materials such as fly ash, slag, etc., are present. These ratios are well known to persons skilled in the art.
Once formed, the cementitious mixture of the present invention may be used in any conventional way, e.g. poured into a form and allowed to harden and set. The hardened product will contain fly ash and entrained air, but no excess of air entrainment agent that could adversely affect the air content and properties of the hardened product.
The cementitious mixtures of the invention may include other standard or specialized concrete ingredients know to persons skilled in the art.
While the present disclosure mentions several classes of sacrificial agents, as well as several individual compounds, that are effective in the present invention, other compounds and classes of compounds may also be effective. To enable ready identification of such compounds and classes of compounds, the following protocol has been developed.
While the first protocol described above yields reliable evaluations of the relative merit of various groups of sacrificial agents, and has produced the results shown in Examples 1 to 31 below, the protocol is very labour intensive, time- and material-consuming. To alleviate these problems, a second testing protocol has been devised, based upon the results already collected in Examples 1 to 31.
In order to rapidly screen a large number of potential candidates for use as fly ash concrete sacrificial agents, a second protocol has been devised using the paste air measurement equipment and procedure described later in this description, in the section entitled "Examples relating to Air entrainment in cement or FA:cement pastes—Maximum air protocol". This second protocol was designed to test the usefulness of a candidate sacrificial agent (SA) through a minimum number of paste air measurements, comprising, typically, the following air entrainment (AE) measurements, using a reference concrete air entrainment agent (AEA):
The second sacrificial agents evaluation protocol has been designed to assess the relative potential value of candidate sacrificial agents with a maximum of five paste air measurements.
The first two measurements (of entrained air) are carried out with a standard AEA in a portland cement paste and in a FA:cement paste; these two tests provide reference values which can be used for the relative assessment of a series of sacrificial agents. The other three paste air measurements pertain to the properties and effectiveness of the sacrificial agents. Hence, once the reference AEA values are determined, the potential merit of a candidate SA can be assessed from only three paste air measurements.
Details of the systems and procedures used are given below, the results of which are illustrated schematically in
Reference AE Measurements in Cement and FA:Cement Pastes
1. Measurement of the air entrained by a standard air-entraining admixture in a cement paste of fixed composition and fluidity; the latter is a reference system which provides 'reference' air entrainment values ('A' in
2. Measurement of the air entrained in a 50:50 FA:cement paste by DDBS at the same dosage and under the same condition as given in 1 above; the observed AE value will serve as a second reference value throughout the series of tests, and it is illustrated as 'B' in
In the present SA testing and evaluation protocol, the fly ash selected should remain the same for the entire set of additives tested, in order to provide reliable relative performance ranking. For the present series of test, the Fly Ash selected was the one identified as B1 in Table 1 below; the physico-chemical properties of this fly ash are reported in Table 1.
AE Measurements to Assess Performance of Sacrificial Agents
In testing for the relative performance of the sacrificial agent, the sacrificial agent dosage was chosen in the range 0-0.1 wt %, which corresponds to typical dosage values observed in paste, mortar and concrete tests reported in Tables 2, 3 and 4 and Tables 7 to 34.
Also, in the concentration range in which they are used, SA should not interfere markedly with the performance of AE admixtures; hence the air entrainment by SA alone in cement pastes should also be measured at their maximum expected practical dosage. For most sacrificial agents of the present invention, the maximum practical dosage will be of the order of 0.2% by weight of cementitious material, and most typically 0.1% by wt cementitious; for sacrificial agents which exhibit some concrete air entrainment by themselves, the maximum dosage may be limited to lower values.
The following paste air entrainment measurements will then enable a primary assessment of SA candidate
3. Measurement of the air entrainment of the SA, by itself, in a cement-only paste at a dosage of 0.1 wt %; this is illustrated as 'D' in
4. Measurement of the air entrained by DDBS in the FA-cement paste comprising 0.05% wt SA, under the same conditions as described in 2 above. The air entrainment value observed in this system, compared to that observed in the absence of the SA, yields the air recovery due to the SA, and is illustrated schematically as 'E' in
5. Same as in 4 above, but with a higher SA concentration at 0.1 wt %; the air entrainment observed, again compared to the value observed in the absence of the SA, yields a second value of air recovery by the SA and is illustrated as 'F' in
While it is preferable to carry out both of steps 4 and 5, a single step can be carried out at a single concentration of SA (e.g. 0.1 wt %) if required to simplify the procedure.
As noted above, this second testing protocol will provide a relative assessment of the potential of a series of compounds, all tested under the specified set of conditions, using the specified materials, equipment and protocols throughout the series of test. For example, changes in the cement source, the fly ash used, the air entrainment agent type and concentration may alter the tests results, as was shown using the first testing protocol described earlier (see results in Tables 7 to 34 of Examples below). However, compounds found effective in this protocol should also be effective in other conditions, although the level of effectiveness may change. Conversely, compounds found ineffective according to this protocol should be ineffective in other conditions.
The properties of an ideal sacrificial agent (SA) for air entrainment in fly ash concrete are readily identified from specific requirements of the application (as outlined in the first protocol). From a performance standpoint, the ideal sacrificial agent should exhibit:
Other desirable (but secondary) properties, which may also be considered for a large scale application include:
For the purpose of rating the relative performance of various SA, initially neglecting considerations on 'other desirable properties' as outlined above, two types of criteria can be used:
Qualitative Rejection Criteria
The following conditions would preclude the use of a particular SA:
Any SA candidate rejected under these two criteria could potentially be used in conjunction with other SA candidate to achieve the quantitative performance criteria described below. The general principle allowing such product combinations will be outlined below in the Section entitled: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PERFORMANCE OF SACRIFICIAL AGENTS AND THEIR MOLECULAR PARAMETERS.
Quantitative Performance Criteria and Rating
The candidate sacrificial agents tested were rated according to the level of air entrainment recovery they exhibit, through the paste air testing protocol described above. For the relative performance rating of the group of products chosen as potential SA and listed in Table 36, the following rating scheme (Tables A and B) was adopted (referring to
Using this rating scheme, the potential value of each candidate SA is thus rated with a single-digit number ranging between 0 and 4. Examining the ratings attributed to the various chemicals tested (Table 36, col. 5), it is readily seen that valuable sacrificial agents with high ratings (e.g., 3 or 4) are found in many families of chemical compounds, namely: alcohols, glycol ethers, carboxylic acids, aromatic sulfonates, esters, amines, alcohol amines, amides, quaternary ammonium salts and polyglycols. For the entire group of 104 compounds tested, the following breakdown is observed:
Listed below are the different groups of compounds according to their ratings—best: 4, worst: 1; all acid compounds were tested in the form of sodium salts:
It is to be noted that compounds rated 'zero' are considered unacceptable for use as single SAs, but could be used in mixtures with other compounds rated higher to produce a combined sacrificial agent that is effective in the invention. Also, while SAs should themselves entrain less than 2 vol % air (Volume D of
Compounds found effective according to the second protocol may be subjected to an abbreviated version of the first protocol to determine the most preferred compounds and effective dosages, etc.
As noted above, valuable SA were found in many functional classes of chemical compounds. This finding indicates that the specific nature of the functional group of the SA is perhaps not the prevailing (or only) factor in determining the performance of a SA. Without wishing to be bound to any particular theory, based upon the assumed mode of action of SA in fly ash concrete, i.e., competitive adsorption of the SA and AEA, a second molecular feature which may be important, is their 'hydrophobic character'. This particular feature of chemical compounds is quantitatively defined by their 'Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance' (HLB) rating, or their oil/water (or octanol/water) partition coefficients (KOW).
The HLB Scale
The HLB concept and its application in colloid chemistry are described in References 4 and 5 listed at the end of this specification (the disclosures of which references are incorporated herein by reference), and may be understood as follows. A given molecule, comprising a hydrophilic (water-soluble) group and a lipophilic (hydrophobic) moiety, will exhibit an overall character which depends on the relative magnitude of its hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. The HLB scale provides a measure of this mixed character; the HLB scale typically varies between 0 and 20, the more hydrophilic the molecule, the higher the HLB value.
The HLB was initially designed to characterize the relative ability of surfactants to emulsify oil in water, or vice-versa (Reference 6). Typically, the HLB value of a non-ionic surfactant could be estimated as the weight fraction of the hydrophilic portion of the surfactant molecule, divided by 5 to yield a smaller, more convenient range of HLB numbers. References 5 and 6 show how to determine HLB values experimentally; for non-ionic polyol ester surfactants, the experimental HLB value is obtained as:
HLB=20 (1−S/A) where S is the saponification number of the ester, and A is the acid number of the recovered acid.
While the HLB procedure was designed for surfactants, it was later extended to other organic molecules. This was achieved by assigning HLB values to different fragments and functional groups of surfactant molecules, based on experimental data for families of surfactants. The different 'group contributions' could then be used to calculate HLB values for other molecules comprising the same groups. This approach is described in general terms in standard textbooks (Reference 7) and is discussed in details by Davies (Reference 8) and McGowan (References 9 and 10); these authors provide tables of HLB group contributions and additivity schemes for calculating molecular HLB values. The calculated HLB values are reasonably accurate for most non-ionic molecules; in some cases, for example, molecules with multiple functional groups, or molecules with an ionic group, the accuracy of the calculated values will be affected (Reference 10). Because of these limitations, several compounds examined here could not be attributed meaningful HLB values.
Example of HLB Calculation:
Using the McGowan HLB group contribution scale (Reference 9), an example of HLB calculation is given below for Ethylene Glycol Phenyl Ether (or Ethanol, 2-phenoxy-, or 2-Phenoxyethanol); formula: C6H5OCH2CH2OH.
The table of HLB contributions assigned to various functional groups and molecular fragment is presented below (Table C). The fragments which comprise the EGPE molecule are identified in the first column, together with the number of each fragment or group. The calculated HLB is simply the sum of the group contributions listed in the last column. For EGPE, the calculated HLB value is found as 6.239.
The hydrophobic-hydrophilic character of a molecule is also evidenced by its relative solubility in oil (octanol) and water, i.e. the ratio: solubility in oil (octanol)/solubility in water. This ratio can be measured directly from the equilibrium partitioning of the compound between oil (octanol) and water, and expressed as the equilibrium partition coefficient: KOW. Highly hydrophobic compounds, being very oil-soluble, will exhibit high values of KOW; conversely, hydrophilic compounds will exhibit low KOW values. For convenience, the values of KOW are reported on a logarithmic scale as logKOW. Unlike the HLB scale which best applies to non-ionic surfactant-type molecules, the logKOW classification can include most types of compounds.
Experimental values of KOW are available for a variety of compounds (as disclosed in References 11 to 13 listed at the end of this specification). As with HLB values, the experimental data was used to assigned group contributions to various portions of molecules. From these assigned group values and additivity rules, values of KOW can be calculated for a wide variety of molecule of known composition and structure (as disclosed in References 11 to 13 listed at the end of this specification).
Example of Kow Calculation
The procedure for calculating a KOW value using the KowWin program available from Reference 11 is illustrated below for Ethylene Glycol Phenyl Ether (EGPE). The KowWin program for predicting LogKow values can perform its calculation with either of the following inputs: 1—the Chemical Abstract (CAS) Registry number for the molecule of interest, or 2—the structure of the molecule, depicted in the 'SMILES' notation, which is explained in the KowWin program. For EGPE, the following information can be supplied:
Compound: Ethylene Glycol Phenyl Ether (or Ethanol, 2-phenoxy-, or 2-Phenoxyethanol)
Chemical formula: C6H5OCH2CH2OH
SMILES structural representation: O(c(cccc1)c1)CCO;
Chemical Abstract Registry Number (CAS): 000122-99-6
The output of the KowWin program for calculation of the EGPE LogKow value is reproduced below. The programs lists the various fragments of the molecule, the number of such fragments (Col. 2), the unit contribution to LogKow for each fragment (Col. 4) and the total contribution from each fragments (Col. 5). The sum of all contributions yields the estimated LogKow as 1.10. The program further provides a comparison with experimental LogKow values when available; for EGPE, a value reported by Hansch (see table) is given as 1.16, in relatively good agreement with the computed value.
Example of Program Computation Output
The relative performance of broader series of alcohols and glycol ethers are illustrated in
The data shown for alcohols and ethers in
The air entrainment recovery values for all of the chemicals tested are illustrated in
A tentative explanation for the observation of an optimum range of LogKOW values with respect to SA performance may be suggested as follows. SA having low values of LogKOW are too water-soluble, or hydrophilic, to interact effectively with carbon in the fly ash. At the other end, SA having high values of LogKOW are too oil-soluble, or hydrophobic; such compounds, typically aliphatic oils, can interact effectively with fly ash carbon, but they also known to act as de-foamers. Hence, they do not promote, nor assist air entrainment.
A similar plot of air entrainment recovery (Delta AE) for all chemicals tested was also drawn as function of HLB values, as illustrated in
The identification of potentially valuable sacrificial agents based on their LogKOW values is further confirmed by examining the distribution of product ratings as function of LogKOW; this is illustrated in
Thus, the HLB and LogKow values can be used to predict the effectiveness of compounds as sacrificial agents in fly ash cementitious mixtures.
The testing protocol and results illustrated in Table 36, and the relationship of these results to HLB and LogKow values illustrated in
The invention is illustrated in more detain in the following by means of Examples and Comparative Examples provided below. These details should not be used to limit the generality of the present invention.
In order to illustrate the problems of using fly ash in cementitious mixtures containing air entrainment additives, a variety of mixtures were prepared using fly ash and cement powder of different origins and different common air entrainment agents, namely a tall oil fatty acid salt (Air 40) and an alkyl aryl sulfonate salt (Air 30). The percentage air entrainment was then measured. The detailed conditions of mixture preparation and measurement techniques and conditions to obtain these results are provided in following sub-sections. Two commercial Type 10 (US Type-1) portland cement powders were employed—hereinafter referred to as PCA and PCC. The different types of fly ash used are shown in Table 1 below, together with the codes by which these materials are identified and the compositions in which these fly ashes were used in subsequent tests. The fly ash used in the different tests procedures, namely pastes, mortars and concrete, are identified in Table 1. For each fly ash used, the weight percentages of loss on ignition are reported, and are indicative of the carbon content of the fly ash. For the FA used in paste air entrainment and other measurements in aqueous slurries described later, the following other properties are also reported:
In many of the pastes, mortars and concrete samples examined which contained fly ash, it was found difficult to entrain air, i.e., much less air is entrained compared to corresponding systems containing no fly ash.
In each group (paste, mortar and concrete) large variations in the percentages of air entrained were observed among the different types of fly ash. The variability in the percentage of entrained air for different fly ash-cement systems is illustrated (e.g., Tables 2 and 3) by the high values of the relative standard deviation (σ/average % air). This shows that there is a large variability in the behaviour of the mixtures relative to entrained air.
Although the percentage of air entrained was generally low for high-carbon fly ash, some fly ash with low carbon also exhibit very low percentage air entrainment. This shows that the loss on ignition of a particular fly ash is not a reliable indicator of the behaviour of the fly ash, so it is difficulty to predict an adequate dosage of air entrainment agent or admixtures.
In high-carbon fly ash, the amount of air entrained in the paste (50:50 fly ash:cement) was only poorly related to the concentration of air entrainment agents and admixtures, as illustrated by the data shown in Table 2, Columns 1, 2 and 3. Thus the behaviour of air entrainment as a function of concentration of air entrainment agent is unpredictable.
It was also noted that, at high dosages of air entrainment agents, the relative standard deviation values for pastes decrease because an upper limit is reached at 13-14% air for all the fly ash mixtures. Such a ceiling can also be observed in concrete at 12-15% air when a very large excess of air entrainment agent is added, regardless of the fly ash. The problem is that this ceiling is too high to apply an overdose of air entrainment agent in field work.
Equivalent studies to those summarised above were carried out on pastes and mixtures containing various kinds of fly ash, air entrainment agents and sacrificial agents according to the present invention. The results are shown in the Tables below.
Adsorption/Precipitation of Sacrificial Agents (SA) or Air Entrainment Agents (AEA) in 10 wt % Aqueous Fly Ash Slurries at pH 12.5:
Preparation of SA or AEA solution: Aqueous solutions of the sacrificial agents were prepared at a concentration of 3 mM or 0.003M in 0.03N NaOH (pH 12.5); aqueous solutions of the commercial AEA of unknown molecular weight (Air 30 and Air 40) were prepared at 1050 mg/l corresponding approximately to 3 mM of DDBS, which has a molecular weight of 348 g/mol). The pH of the solutions were adjusted to 12.5 with NaOH.
Precipitation in slurry extract or leachate: To perform this test, FA or cement leachate were prepared in advance, by filtering two liters of a 10 wt % FA, or cement, slurry in 0.03N NaOH which had been left to stand under slow agitation for 30 min; 2.5 g of the filtrate solution was mixed with 22.5 g of the SA or AEA solution in a 50 ml polypropylene centrifuge tube; the latter was shaken vigorously in an orbital shaker (Eberbach Corporation) for 30 min at room temperature, centrifuged for 5 min and then the supernatant solution was filtered (0.45 μm). The SA or AEA content of the solution was determined using an Ultraviolet-Visible (UV) spectrometer or by COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) measurement.
Similarly, the solubility of SA and AEA in saturated lime solution (pH 12.7) were measured to evaluate the extent of precipitation of the Ca-salts of the SA or AEA under these conditions. These experiments comprise: preparing a lime solution at pH 12.7 and mixing the latter with a solution of SA (3 mM) or AEA (1050 mg/l); the proportions were again 2.5 g of the lime solution and 22.5 g of the SA or AEA solution; the sample was agitated, filtered and analyzed for dissolved SA or AEA as described above for slurry leachate experiments.
Adsorption/Precipitation in FA or Cement Slurries: In this protocol, aqueous slurries containing 10 wt % FA or cement were prepared as described above, except that in this case, the cement was added directly into a solution of the SA or AEA in the following proportions: 3.0 g cement or FA, and 27 g of 3 mM sacrificial agent, or 27 g of 1050 mg/l AEA; the latter were prepared in the same way as in the precipitation test above. The residual (soluble) SA or AEA content in the solution was also determined by UV or COD.
Adsorption (wt % Adsorbed) of sacrificial agents or air entrainment agents in slurries containing 10 wt % PCA cement or fly ash at pH 12.5 and Precipitation (wt % precipitated) in solutions extracted from slurries containing 10 wt % PCA cement or fly ash at pH 12.5; initial concentrations: sacrificial agents (3 mM), Air 30 and Air 40 (0.105 wt %).
Entries in parentheses: % precipitation when reacted with solutions extracted from the fly ash slurries (Results in Table 5).
As can be noted from the data in Table 5, a major fraction of the air entrainment agents tested (Air 30 and Air 40), was removed from the slurry solution due to adsorption onto the fly ash and cement particles, and precipitation as insoluble salts (see entries in parentheses: % precipitated).
Under the same conditions, the sacrificial agents are not significantly precipitated, except for 1-naphthoic acid in the presence of the M1 fly ash, where precipitation of calcium naphthoate is likely due to a high level of soluble Ca in this fly ash.
Because there is no significant precipitation of the SA in the fly ash leachate, the SA removed from the slurries must be removed through adsorption onto the fly ash. Adsorption of the sacrificial agents in alkaline fly ash slurries is significant and shows several distinct behaviours, which may be seen as:
The trends observed in the behaviour of the sacrificial agents point to different classes of sacrificial agents which could be used to compete with adsorption of air entrainment agents in fly ash-cement pastes, or inhibit other detrimental fly ash-related processes, in the absence of interfering precipitation phenomena.
The observations on adsorption-precipitation behaviours clearly distinguishes the sacrificial agents additives from air entrainment agents surfactants; the latter are strongly adsorbed or precipitated in the presence of fly ash (last two columns), whereas the sacrificial agents are not. To persons skilled in the art, the sacrificial agents of Table 5 are not classified as 'surfactants' except for di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate which exhibits an inherent surface activity and is said to both a hydrotrope and a surfactant.
The following protocols were followed for measurements of fluidity and air entrainment of various types of pastes compositions of examples below.
Preparation of pastes: Pastes were prepared by pouring 400 g of cementitious powder in the 350-400 g of solution (water and additives) in a vessel (8.4 cm dia,�14.5 cm height) while gently stirring with a spatula; the exact quantity of water depends on the selected W/B ratio (see below); rapid hand mixing was continued for 1 minute, followed by intense stirring at 25� C. during 2 min using a hand-held mixer (BRAUN model MR400). The level of air entrained is dependent on the mode of utilisation of the mixer, namely the height of the mixer from the bottom of the vessel and the length of the mixing stroke; the following protocols were adopted.
Minimum air protocol: The BRAUN mixer is positioned at 1.0 inch from the bottom of the mixing vessel and the up-down motion of the mixer is limited to a 1.0 inch displacement; this provided 'minimum air' entrained air levels and is later referred to as 'Minimum air protocol' (Results reported in Table 6, col. 1 and Table 7).
Maximum air protocol: The BRAUN mixer is positioned at 2.5 inch from the bottom of the mixing vessel and the up-down motion of the mixer is limited to a 2.5 inch displacement; this provided 'maximum air' entrained air levels and is later referred to as 'Maximum air protocol' (Results reported in Tables 2 and 8-11).
Fluidity measurements: For all air entrainment measurements, the initial fluidity of the paste (without additives) was controlled using the 'mini-slump' procedure widely used for paste and grouts. In this protocol, a portion of the paste was transferred into the min-slump cone (a 2�″ high, 1�″ bottom diameter, �″ top diameter cone); excess paste was skimmed-off with a straight; the cone was then raised and the spread diameter of the paste was recorded (average of two measurements). The fluidity is measured at 10 minutes after mixing. The paste is returned to the batch and reserved for subsequent AE measurements. The fluidity of the paste (without SA and AEA) is adjusted by changing the amount of water (water/cementitious ratio) which yields a spread diameter of 115�5 mm. The latter is monitored regularly.
Air entrainment measurements: For air entrainment measurements, a portion of the paste was transferred to overfill a Plexiglas cylinder (3� inches height, 2 inches interior diameter), which was then levelled flush to the top of the cylinder with a straight edge. The mass of the filled cylinder, minus the weight of the empty cylinder, is then recorded and used to calculate the amount of air according to the following formula:
This procedure was carried out at three times at 30 min. intervals (6, 36 and 66 min); the paste was let to stand at rest between measurements, and was stirred gently by hand for one minute prior to the subsequent air entrainment measurements.
The following tables gives specific mixtures compositions of various pastes used for air entrainment measurements.
Typical mixture compositions for air entrainment measurements in pastes containing a single additive using 'Minimum air protocol' (results shown in Table 6, col. 1):
Typical mixture compositions for air entrainment measurements in pastes containing Air 30 plus a sacrificial agent using 'Minimum air protocol' (results shown in Table 7):
Preparation of a stock solution of SA and AEA: The sacrificial agents were blended with the AEA to give the desired ratio, for example 1/4/4, using the sample weights indicated in the Table below for a stock solution of Air 30, ND and EGPE.
The paste compositions prepared with the combined Air 30:ND:EGPE at ratios 1:4:4, for a fixed dosage of Air 30 in the paste at 0.0125 wt %, are given below. The air entrainment results are reported in Table 8, col. 10.
Other combinations of air entrainment agents and sacrificial agents were prepared as stock solutions following the procedure outlined above, adjusting the weights of the various components to achieve the desired component ratios. The paste compositions were also prepared as described above, keeping the cement and fly ash content fixed at 200 g each; the stock solution containing the AEA and SA at pre-determined ratios was introduced to achieve a final Air 30 concentration of 0.0125 wt %.
Air entrained (vol %) in PCA cement paste containing 0.1 wt % (Table 6, col. 1) and 0.0125 wt % (Table 6, col. 2) air entrainment agents (Air 30 or Air 40) or selected sacrificial agents alone measured under 'Minimum air' and 'Maximum air' protocols (Results in Table 6).
In comparison to the air entrained by the air entrainment agents (Air 30 and Air 40) in the cement pastes, the sacrificial agents alone do not entrain air significantly, except for sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate. Comparison of the air entrainment results further distinguishes the sacrificial agents of the present invention from conventional surfactants and air entrainment agents.
Air entrained (vol %) in 50:50 fly ash:PCA cement paste by 0.1 wt. % Air 30 alone and by 0.05 wt % sacrificial agents together with 0.1% Air 30 (Minimum air protocol) (Results in Table 7).
As noted in preceding sections in the Example above, air entrainment in FA-cement (50:50) pastes, using a conventional AEA, exhibits high variability: Air 30 alone (0.1 wt %) entrains an average of 7% air in the different FA-cement pastes, with a relative standard deviation of 63%.
In combination with most of the sacrificial agents, Air 30 entrained somewhat less air on the average, but the RSD was reduced considerably in many cases; the reduction in RSD was particularly important with 1-naphthoic acid, sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether, with RSD values less than 20%.
An additional important aspect of the present invention is the finding of a class of sacrificial agents which can reduce the variability of air entrainment in cementitious systems containing different fly ash materials with vastly different properties; particularly useful candidates are ethylene glycol phenyl ether, sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and 1-naphthoic acid.
Air entrained (vol %) at 66 min in 50:50 fly ash:PCA cement paste by 1 part of Air 30 (0.0125%) alone and different parts (or at varying ratios) of two sacrificial agents's (sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate (ND) and ethylene glycol phenyl ether (EGPE)), (Maximum air protocol) (Results in Table 8).
Using the 'maximum air' test protocol and Air 30 at a dosage typical of that used for air entrainment in concrete, the air entrained in the fly ash-cement pastes averaged 2% with a RSD value of 86% (col. 3).
Addition of ethylene glycol phenyl ether at four (4) times the fixed Air 30 dosage yields an increase in the air entrained (7%), and a significant reduction in RSD (col. 5).
Addition of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate at four (4) times the fixed Air 30 dosage yields a significant increase in the air entrained (14%) in all fly ash:cement pastes, and an important reduction in RSD values (col. 4).
Adding selected combinations of the two sacrificial agents, ethylene glycol phenyl ether and sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate, yields further improvement: Higher average % air entrained and lower RSD values (col. 6-10).
A further important aspect of the present invention is the finding that the use of combinations of sacrificial agents having different molecular properties and adsorption/precipitation behaviour further reduces the variability in the % air in different fly ash:cement pastes.
Air entrained (vol %) at 66 min in 50:50 fly ash:PCA cement paste by 1 part of Air 30 (0.0125 wt %) combined with 4 parts (0.05 wt %) of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate (ND) and 4 parts of various other non ionic sacrificial agents (X), (Air 30/ND/X=1/4/4), (Maximum air protocol) (Results in Table 9).
Air entrained (vol %) at 66 min in 50:50 fly ash:PCA cement paste by 1 part of Air 30 (0.0125%) combined with 4 parts of sodium 2-naphthalene sulfonate (NS) and 4 parts of various other non-ionic sacrificial agents (X), (Air 30/NS/X=1/4/4), (Maximum air protocol) (Results in Table 10).
Air entrained (vol %) at 66 min in 50:50 fly ash:PCA cement paste by 1 part of Air 30 (0.0125 wt %) combined with 4 parts (0.05 wt %) of various other sulfonated sacrificial agents (X) and 4 parts of Butoxyethanol (ButOH), (Air 30/X/ButOH=1/4/4), (Maximum air protocol) (Results in Table 11).
Data from Tables 7 to 11 particularly indicate the value of two groups of chemicals:
The two main groups of sacrificial agents identified may be loosely classified in the family of hydrotropes ('Any species that enhances the solubility of another' (in water); 'Examples: alkyl-aryl sulfonates such as toluene sulfonate' (The Language of Colloid an Interface Science, A dictionary of Terms', Laurel, L Schram, ACS Professional Reference Book, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1993). The low molecular weight glycol derivatives would also qualify as hydrotropes.
Hence, in addition to the requirements set forth by the detailed protocol for selection of potential candidates, most of the experimental results indicate that successful candidates need not be surfactants, but should exhibit 'hydrotropic' features.
Air entrainment were measured in mortars containing portland cement only (control), or a combination of portland cement and fly ash in the ratio 70:30;
The mix compositions are given in the Table below and the measurements were performed according to standard protocols described in ASTM C185-88
Influence of selected sacrificial agents at 0.05 wt % on air entrainment by 0.002 wt % Air 30 in (30:70) fly ash:cement mortars or 0.0017 wt % Air 30 in PCA cement mortars (Results in Table 12).
Influence of selected sacrificial agents at 0.05 wt % or 0.1 wt % (case of EGPE only) on air entrainment by 0.005 wt % Air 40 in (30:70) fly ash:cement mortars or 0.004 wt % Air 40 in PCA cement mortars (Results in Table 13).
These observations confirm, for mortars, the findings described earlier in fly ash:cement pastes for single sacrificial agents, with common concrete air entrainment agents tested: the proposed sacrificial agents can increase air content and reduce the % air variability among the different fly ashes.
Air entrainment in fresh concrete mixtures were performed according to protocols described in ASTM C 231-97 with mix proportions as given below. In all concrete containing fly ash, the fly ash content was fixed at 25%. The dosage of air entrainment agents and of sacrificial agents are reported in the various Table of results presented below.
The sacrificial agents were added to the cementitious mixtures in several ways:
This section is included to demonstrate the behaviour of the sacrificial agents and combinations of air entrainment and sacrificial agents in normal PC concrete, or concrete which would contained ideal, problem-free fly ash. The results are also intended to further distinguish between the properties of the sacrificial agents and those of the conventional air entrainment agents.
Air entrainment by ethylene glycol phenyl ether alone at various dosages in PCC cement concrete (no fly ash) (Results in Table 14).
Air entrainment by sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate alone at various dosages in PCC cement concrete (no fly ash) (Results in Table 15).
In applications where air entrainment is undesirable, the dosage of sacrificial agents having some surfactant character, such as sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate, must be kept below some critical values.
Air entrainment by sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether together at different ratios and total dosages in PCC cement concrete (no fly ash) (Results in Table 16).
Influence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether at various dosages on Air entrainment by Air 40 (0.003 and 0.006 wt %) in PCA cement concrete (Results in Table 17).
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate together with ethylene glycol phenyl ether, or with ethylene glycol methyl ether, at various ratios and total dosage, on air entrainment by Air 40 (0.008 wt %) in PCA cement concrete (Results in Table 18).
Influence of concrete chemical admixtures (Superplasticizer, SP; Water reducer, LW and set accelerator, AC) on air entrainment in PCA concrete by Air 40 (0.008%) in the presence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether as the sacrificial agent (Results in Table 19).
At a fixed dosage of Air 40, the % air entrained is not significantly influenced by either:
An additional finding of the present invention is that the role of ethylene glycol phenyl ether as a sacrificial agents of the present invention is not substantially altered by other common concrete chemical admixtures. Conversely, the sacrificial agents does not affect the performance of these other chemical admixtures.
Influence of concrete admixtures (same as in previous Table) on air entrainment in PCA concrete by Air 40 (0.004, 0.006, 0.008 wt %) with sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol methyl ether (EGME) as sacrificial agents at varying total dosage and fixed 1:2 ratio (Results in Table 20).
Further findings of the present invention:
Sacrificial agents use in conjunction with the main types of other concrete chemical admixtures do not lead to erratic air entrainment behaviours.
The sacrificial agents of the present invention are compatible with other types of concrete chemical admixtures, i.e., there is no detrimental influence on the respective function of these admixtures.
The following examples were carried out to study the influence of dosage and ratio of most preferred SA with the same cement and FA from a constant source but varying LOI.
Influence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether (0.1 wt %) on air entrainment with Air 40 at various dosages in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 1.94% LOI (Results in Table 21).
It is thus further confirmed that the sacrificial agents of the present invention perform their intended function: allow the air entrainment agents to entrain normal levels of air, without significantly contributing themselves to the air entrainment.
Influence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether (0.1 wt %) on air entrainment with Air 40 at various dosages in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI (Results in Table 22).
Influence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether (varying dosage) on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.003 wt %) in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI (Results in Table 23).
Influence of ethylene glycol phenyl ether (varying dosage) on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.007 wt %) in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI (Results in Table 24).
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at fixed 1:3 ratio and varying total dosage on air entrainment with Air 40 (varying concentration) in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at different LOI (Results in Table 25).
An important finding of the invention is that adequate combinations and dosages of the sacrificial agents of the present invention makes it possible to normalize the air entrainment behaviour of fly ash-concrete, regardless of the carbon content of the fly ash.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at various ratios and total dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.008 wt %) in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI (Results in Table 26).
A further important finding is that the sacrificial agents of the present invention do not lead to excessive air entrainment when used in excess dosages, a crucial feature for the predictability of air entrainment behaviour.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol methyl ether (EGME) at various ratios and total dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.008 wt %) in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI (Results in Table 27).
The results confirms that ethylene glycol methyl ether can also be used as part of a sacrificial agents combination in fly ash concrete.
The following examples are an extension of the study to confirm the applicability of most preferred SA in mixtures containing other combinations of fly ash and cements.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate (0.0016 wt %) and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at varying dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.005%)) in H2 fly ash:PCC concrete;
H2 fly ash at 3.6 and 4.9% LOI (Results in Table 28).
In this particular case, the air entrainment is increased to near 'normal' (without fly ash) levels with very low ND:EGPE ratios and moderate total dosage of the combined sacrificial agent.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at fixed 1:3 ratio and varying total dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.012 wt %) in B1 fly ash:PCC concrete;
B1 fly ash at four different LOI (Results in Table 29).
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at fixed 1:3 ratio and varying total dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.005 wt %) in E1 fly ash:PCC concrete;
E1 fly ash at two different LOI (Results in Table 30).
In the presence of increasing dosages of the ND/EGPE combination, the % air values are increased to values close to those in cement-only concrete.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at fixed 1:3 ratio and varying total dosages on air entrainment with Air 40 (varying dosages) in C1 fly ash:PCC concrete;
C1 fly ash at 0.62% LOI (Results in Table 31).
The following examples show the effects of intentionally increasing the carbon content of the fly ash by adding activated carbon; the latter may or may not be similar to the carbon originally present in the fly ash.
In the testing referenced described below, the activated carbon used was DARCO FGD from Norit Americas Inc. This is a lignite coal-based activated carbon manufactured specifically for the removal of heavy metals and other contaminants typically found in incinerator flue gas emission streams. Its use has been reported effective for the removal of mercury in coal combustion gas streams. The material used was 95% minus a 325 sieve with general characteristics of a specific surface area of 600 m2/g and an iodine number of 600 g/mg.
Influence of sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate and ethylene glycol phenyl ether at fixed 1:3 ratio and total dosage (0.07 wt %) on air entrainment with Air 40 (0.004 wt %) in C1 fly ash:PCC concrete containing activated carbon added at 0.5 and 1 wt % on fly ash;
C1 fly ash at 0.18% LOI, (Results in Table 32).
In previous examples, the sacrificial agents were added together with the air entrainment agents during the concrete batching process. The data below relates to alternate means of addition of the sacrificial agents.
Comparative air entrainment in B1 fly ash:PCA concrete by Air 30 or Air 40 (varying dosages) and ethylene glycol phenyl ether (0.01 wt %) when the sacrificial agents is added either during batching or pre-mixed with the fly ash; B1 fly ash at 4.7% LOI, (Results in Table 33).
Comparison of results for sacrificial agents added during concrete mixing, or after concrete mixing. The sacrificial agents combination is sodium di-isopropyl naphthalene sulfonate:ethylene glycol phenyl ether at 1:15 ratio and varying total dosages; H2 fly ash:PCC concrete;
H2 fly ash at 3.96% or 5.7% LOI (Results in Table 34)
An important aspect of the air entrained in concrete is its distribution within the pastes. Standard concrete practices defined by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) or ASTM provide specific requirements on 'bubble' size, size distribution, surface area, etc. The critical parameters of air voids obtained in air entrained concrete with and without sacrificial agents are reported in Table 35.
Results of Petrographic Analysis of Air Voids Systems for several fly ash concrete (Results in Table 35).
Examples Relating to Second Testing Protocol
A wide variety of chemical compounds were chosen as potentially useful sacrificial agents and were evaluated through the second test protocol described above. The results obtained for 104 chemicals tested are collected in Table 36 and grouped by families of related compounds; for example, alcohols, polyols, ethers, etc; the entries in Table 36 are as explained below, and the significance of some of these entries is illustrated in
The disclosures of the above references are specifically incorporated herein by reference.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
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text:
In this thread, you can post pictures of the room/area in which you do most of your gaming.
You can also quote other people's setup's in your post and rate theirs out of 10.
This is where I do most of my gaming in my bedroom, although this is a temporary setup cause I am moving my bedroom to a different room in the house...
So yeh, it's not great, but here it is.
I'll list the most important stuff...
20 Inch Samsung 1080p HDTV/Monitor
Playstation 3 60GB
Nintendo Wii
Epiphone Les Paul Guitar
PS3 Games
Wii Games
PSP Slim And DS Lite (In Their Cases)
Fan (Keeps My Room Cool :D)
There is loads of other stuff like the Original PSP, Original DS, PS2 Slimline, Controllers, PS2 Games, DS Games, PSP Games and things like that in my drawers, but there isn't much point in taking pictures of them.
Rate it out of 10 guys. :D

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Karise Eden: "Seal Guided Me Through"
The Singer Talks Winning 'The Voice Australia,' Her Debut Album And Season 2...
'The Voice Australia' winner Karise Eden has credited her mentor Seal for helping her to turn her life around.
"He has guided me through a lot personally. He has confronted me and I think he has helped me dramatically on both sides [personally and professionally], she told AAP.
"He taught me to value myself as an artist and I'm an artist - and not that little girl from Woy Woy and to have confidence and know I am doing the right thing."
The singer has also urged producers to re-sign her mentor for the second series.
"It would be amazing to see that man sitting in his chair again," she added.
And it's clear the effect she also has had on the 'Kiss From A Rose' superstar, who dubbed her as Australia's new 'Queen of Soul.' He was reduced to tears during her performance of Leonard Cohen track 'Hallelujah'.
Meanwhile, the 19 year-old says that winning the show has been a huge confidence boost.
"I do feel a lot happier. I can hold my chin up now and know I'm OK. People like me," she told the Daily Telegraph.
At the age of 13, she became estranged from her mother and shifted between 20 women's refuges.
The Central Coast star reveals that she is looking forward to telling her inspirational story in her debut album 'My Journey.'
"I'd like to leave (the real story) as a bit of a mystery. I'd love to hear how other people relate to my songs, what it means in their minds," she said.
Don't miss Karise's new album 'My Journey,' which hits the shelves on Tuesday June 26!
Written by Jennifer Fletcher


text:
Hoping to make a quick jump to the UFC, Nick Burgos puts his six-fight winning streak on the line at RFA 27 on Friday night. read news >>
Jump inside to get an extended preview (via YouTube) of UFC 189 on July 11, 2015, which features a featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor, as well as a welterweight title bout read news >>
When you become a champion of a major organization, you usually stay there. That is, however, unless a bigger, better opportunity comes calling. That's what happened to RFA featherweight champion Jus read news >>


text:
New ideas for the old Nueces Courthouse
One developer's idea: Make it a law school
The site of many historic courtroom battles could become a training ground for lawyers and judges of the future under a local developer's plans to turn the old Nueces County Courthouse, which was completed in 1914, into a law school.
Dan Judson, of Judson Partners, said the idea is just conceptual, and future studies would determine the best use for the building that has been vacant since 1977.
"We know the county doesn't have the funds or any real desire to do this," he said. "We're looking at it as a purely private venture. We buy the building and we fix it up."
Judson has not formalized plans to establish a law school in Corpus Christi, nor has he gotten a commitment from an existing school to open a campus here.
Commissioners will consider Judson's plan during a presentation Wednesday.
Commissioner Peggy Banales put the item on the commissioners' agenda.
Judson, owner of Ocean Drive Marina, has presented reuse plans to the city for Memorial Coliseum, including such ideas as an indoor market and restaurant and placing the Columbus ships under its green roof.
The city recently announced its plans with another developer to bring an amusement park to the bayfront site had fallen through.
If the county is interested in selling the building, Judson said his group and investors would determine what should be in the building and bring in the money to make that happen. He estimates renovations could cost between $9 million and $11 million.
The old courthouse, near the Harbor Bridge, received a $2.85 million exterior renovation of its south wing last year.
"The courthouse is a very beloved building by a lot of people, but in so being beloved, there are still issues we need to be aware of," she said. "And we don't want to use taxpayer money, if we can help it, to do what we need to do."
Banales said she'd like to see the courthouse keep its historical credibility and be useable. That could then stimulate economic growth for the downtown area, which is in her precinct, she said.
County Judge Loyd Neal said the county has been committed to spending money on the fairgrounds complex in Robstown and will have to consider other capital needs, like repairs to the jail and the occupied courthouse, as it goes into the next budget cycle.
"I've said all along I have no desire to put any more taxpayer dollars into the (1914) courthouse," he said.
The building can't be demolished until 2025 because of a deed restriction placed on the building when the county accepted grants from the Texas Historical Commission. The commission also prohibits any exterior changes, and would likely be involved in any reuse plans.
Commissioner Chuck Cazalas agreed that taxpayers shouldn't foot the bill for restoration, and said the county should find a private sector partner for the project.
"If it turns from an eyesore into an asset for the community, than I would be 100 percent behind it," he said.
Commissioners Oscar Ortiz and Betty Jean Longoria said they are open to ideas for the old building, and may consider putting in some county funds.
"Right now as it's sitting there, it's just deteriorating, so we need to at least be open to any suggestions," Ortiz said.
Community donations and county funds provided the local match of $950,000 for the $2.85 million renovation that was completed last year.
In 2005, commissioners declined to put up $1.76 million to match state grant funds to continue renovation. Cost for complete restoration has been estimated atas much as $30 million.
The latest plan called for turning the building into a science and technology museum, but funding for the idea never materialized.
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