Factors affecting concrete permeability to cryogenic fluids

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Abstract
Synopsis Substantial cost saving and enhanced safety could achieved in the construction of storage tanks for liquefied natural gas (LNG). if it could be demonstrated that prestressed concrete can be reliably used in the construction of the primary, as well as the secondary container. Available information on the mechanical properties of concrete at very low temperature is adequate in establishing its suitability as a cryogenic construction material. Very little work, however, has been done on the factors and mechanisms governing the flow of cryogenic fluids through the essentially porous material. The work presented here outlines design and analysis of an experiment aimed at establishing the effects of eight factors upon the permeability of concrete specimens to liquid nitrogen. The results suggest that the mechanisms governing the permeability of concrete at ambient and at cryogenic temperatures differ fundamentally. In particular, the aggregate plays a major role in the cryogenic permeability of concrete. A model is proposed, whereby incompatibilities between the physical and thermal properties of the aggregate and the cement paste give rise to microcracking below a certain temperature. Such a model is capable of accounting for the observed results, as well as for phenomena previously reported.

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