Reverting Colored Concrete to Gray via Pigment Masking
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing colored cementitious products result in significant waste of colored concrete residue and rinse water, requiring large volumes of water for rinsing and leading to environmental concerns and increased operational time.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for reverting colored concrete back to a gray-like color using a collection of pigment mixtures, allowing for the reduction of rinse water usage and enabling the recycling of concrete, thereby eliminating the need for disposal into landfills or the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If colored concrete is produced using pigment mixtures, then desired color is achieved, but colored residue remains in the vessel requiring large volumes of rinse water
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by introducing a reversion pigment mixture that chemically reacts with or masks the original pigment in the colored concrete residue, transforming it back to a gray appearance. This allows the residue to be visually indistinguishable from gray concrete, eliminating the need for extensive rinsing to remove colored stains from the vessel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of colored residue (which requires large amounts of water to remove) into a benefit by applying a reversion pigment mixture that transforms the colored residue into gray residue. This converted residue can then be easily removed with minimal rinse water, turning the original problem into a solution.
2Reliability
If colored concrete residue is removed by hand scraping and rinsing, then the vessel is cleaned for subsequent batches, but operator time is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adding the reversion pigment mixture to the colored residue before the rinsing step. This preliminary treatment transforms the colored residue into gray residue, which then requires minimal rinsing to achieve vessel cleanliness, significantly reducing the time operators spend on the cleaning process.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If colored rinse water is collected and disposed of in licensed water collection pits, then environmental safety is maintained, but disposal costs and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful colored rinse water into benign gray rinse water by applying the reversion pigment mixture to the residue before rinsing. This conversion eliminates the need for specialized licensed water collection pits and complex disposal systems, as the gray water can be disposed of through standard concrete washwater procedures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces clean water usage, minimizes dirty water disposal, and saves operator time by allowing subsequent batches of concrete to be loaded into the same vessel, promoting environmental sustainability and cost efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
adding a reversion pigment mixture to the colored concrete in the vessel... reverting the colored material back to an acceptable gray-like or gray color
Data Source
AI summary
A simple and easily useable system for reverting an uncured colored concrete material back to a gray color, by merely determining the original pigment and loading initially used to color the concrete material. The system utilizes a collection of pigment mixtures that can be selected and combined as needed to revert virtually any colored concrete back to a gray color, thus eliminating or reducing the expulsion of non-gray or colored concrete and/or dirty rinse water. Additionally, the volume of rinse water needed to clean out gray concrete is significantly less than that needed to clean out colored concrete.