Recovery of high quality aggregate from concrete waste using the Pulsed Power Technology

In Japan, a large amount of waste concrete are generated now. Therefore, the development of new recycling technology of waste concrete scraps is paramount importance. In this work, the pulsed power discharges inside of waste concrete scraps immersed in water were used to reproduce the coarse aggregate. This research collected the recycled coarse aggregate from waste concrete. As the result, it is found that the coarse aggregates reproduced by electrical pulsed discharge energy of 640kJ have the enough qualities of the bone-dry density and the water absorption rate to satisfy JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) regulation class H(A5021). The concretes consisted of the recycled coarse aggregate also have the enough compressed strength and Young’s module to utilize as the construction material. In addition, the amount of generation powder is few when the concrete is crushed by pulsed power technology. The recycled fine aggregates made by electrical pulsed discharges energy of 640kJ have the qualities to satisfy JIS regulation class L(A5023).