Plasma Processing in Industry of Building Materials

The equipment for plasma processing with specific area of application -production of building materials - is proposed. For the proposed equipment the examination of possibilities is carried out. It was shown that plasma processing significantly affects the components of concrete portland cement, fine filler (silica) and water. The treatment of portland cement leads to crystalline hydrate shell destruction and removal of chemically bound water. This, in turn, leads to the increase of strength by 15-20%. Plasma processing significantly changes the state of the fine filler. The total surface area of such a filler decreases due to flash-off effects. In Raman spectra all strong peaks of crystalline quartz disappear, and amorphization of quartz takes place after processing. If both cement and fine filler are processed than strength can be increased by 30%. By means of plasma processing of water it is possible not only to enlarge the strength of mortar, but also to increase the rate of curing. The improvement of properties is probably due to changes of hydration completeness in case of activated water.