Improving the efficiency of electrochemical chloride extraction from concrete using photovoltaics

Of the 330 marine based concrete bridges in Ireland, up to 20% are significantly damaged and require some form of immediate repair due to chloride induced steel reinforcement corrosion. In the United States, around 173,000 concrete bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete due to chloride corrosion with an annual maintenance budget of $17 billion.
Current electrochemical chloride (ECE) methods to repair corroded steel in concrete use diesel generated electricity due to a lack of a sustainable power source with approximate current densities applied. This is expensive, unreliable and not optimised for the particular concrete type, ambient temperature or degree of chloride present in the concrete. As a result, ECE is currently only 50% effective.
This research will employ photovoltaics (PV) to improve ECE efficiency, proposing an appropriate repair strategy and increasing its environmental benefit. These findings will increase the life span of vital infrastructure and reduce expensive ongoing repairs with decreased traffic congestion and inconvenience associated with bridge repairs.