Hydronium Detection in Hardened Concrete

Abstract

The monitoring of reinforced concrete structures allows us to detect the presence of aggressive agents into of the concrete matrix, on site and in a real time. These aggressive agents can produce the unexpected failure of the structures, thus discovering their presence is a fundamental aspect in the preservation of people safety and the durability of the structure. On the other hand, helps to reduce the cost of maintenance and repair operations, due to allow us to identify the problems faster, minimizing the intervention to be done. The present research paper was focused in the hydronium detection; the reduction of this species generates hydrogen, the hydrogen produces the embrittlement and cracking of the steel, which seriously compromises the right behaviour of the structure. The problem of hydrogen appears in industries such as ammonia processing or petrochemistry industries and nuclear power plants. All of them are industries in which a failure seriously compromises the welfare of people and the environment. Therefore, the detection of hydrogen penetration in reinforcement concrete structures in these cases are very interesting. In this study, with the purpose to detect the hydronium or hydrogen in the hardened concrete matrices is proposed the use of voltammetric sensor, which is part of a multisensory system called Electronic-Tongue. This is a preliminary study. The objective of these initial steps was to evaluate the detection capability of the sensor. Currently, have been designing a sequential test in order to evaluate the sensor in different partial hydrogen pressures with the purpose to develop mathematical models to the hydronium or hydrogen detection and quantification in hardened concrete matrix. © The authors.