WPE-DK UHPConcentrate

The new WPE-DK UHPConcentrate System was developed by us to give our customers the flexibility
to manage material logistics with suitable local raw materials and drastically reduce costs.

By reducing lengthy material deliveries, CO₂ is significantly reduced.

What is the UHPC BlackBox Concentrate?

UHPConcentrate System uses a new technology of UHPC binders to which suitable locally produced cement and aggregates can be added as additives.

What are the advantages of the UHPConcentrate?

UHP Concentrate uses suitable, locally produced cement as an additive, which leads to a reduction in material costs and makes material procurement flexible and short term.

It also significantly reduces freight/logistics costs. Our customer can plan more flexibly and has lower storage costs.

For which customers / projects is our UHPConcentrate an advantage?

For all customers/projects that have a regular UHPC concrete material requirement. Such as companies from the offshore, industrial flooring, prefabricated construction, architecture, civil engineering, security, corrosion protection, wear protection, military, road construction, etc.

For architects and planners, the UHPConcentrate offers an extremely wide range of possible combinations through the use of grey cement or white cement in combination with mineral and metallic materials as well as wood, plastic, glass, etc.

How sustainable is the UHPConcentrate?

Concrete made with a UHPConcentrate has a much longer life expectancy than standard concrete. Concrete made with our UHPConcentrate is 100% recyclable. Our UHPConcentrate can use recycled material as aggregate.

With UHPConcentrate we can produce concretes that require much less cement than standard concrete, which significantly reduces the CO₂ content. In every suitability test of local customer cements, we check a minimisation of the cement content.

Which concretes can be produced with the UHPConcentrate?

There are three UHPConcentrate Systems, one for UHPC mortar, UHPC castable and UHPC shotcrete.

How can quality be ensured?

We have a team of experienced supervisors and representatives to assist our customers and / or their local contractors with the production, quality assurance and installation of UHPConcentrate.

We offer free training to our customers.

For special installations, such as offshore installations, we can also use complete mobile production and mixing plants. The entire system is installed modularly in containers and is extremely mobile

In which packaging units is UHPConcentrate delivered?

As standard packaging, we deliver UHPConcentrate in 25 kg paper bags or in 1 ton BigBags. 

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Offshore hydrogen storage system made of UHPC concrete

Standard concrete can suffer various problems due to hydrogen, especially in special applications such as
hydrogen storage or hydrogen pipelines. The main problems are:

1. Micro-cracking due to hydrogen pressure

• Problem: hydrogen is a small molecule that can enter pores and micro-cracks in concrete. When hydrogen is under high pressure in these pores, it can expand the pores and enlarge cracks.
  
• Consequences:
  
• weakening of the mechanical strength of the concrete.
  
• Progressive damage due to cyclic loading.

Due to its very high density, UHPC has significantly fewer problems with this issue and its consequences.

 

2. Damage due to hydrogen embrittlement (indirect)

• Problem: Hydrogen does not chemically attack concrete, but it can embrittle steel reinforcement elements embedded in the concrete. This is referred to as hydrogen embrittlement.
  
• Consequences:
  
• Reduction in load-bearing capacity due to cracking and failure of the reinforcement steel.
  
• Shortening of the service life of the concrete structure.
  

Due to the very high material density, possible hydrogen embrittlement occurs after aconsiderably longer period of time and to a small extent. 

 

3. Reaction with free ions and moisture

• Problem: Hydrogen can react with moisture and chemical compounds in the concrete (e.g. calcium hydroxide), creating by-products such as water or hydroxide ions.
  
• Consequences:
  
• Alteration of the chemical composition of the concrete, which can lead to a reduction in alkalinity.
  
• Accelerated corrosion of the reinforcement due to the loss of the passivation effect.

Occurs to a much lesser extent in UHPC

4. Pore structure and permeability

• Problem: Hydrogen can easily diffuse through the pore structure of concrete due to its small molecular size, especially in porous or poorly compacted concrete.
  
• Consequences:
  
• Loss of tightness, which is critical for hydrogen storage tanks or pipes.
  
• The ingress of hydrogen causes pressure build-up and damage.

Hydrogen can only penetrate UHPC concrete very slowly and under high pressure because UHPC concrete is an extremely dense material.

5. Increased risk of a hydrogen fire

• Problem: If hydrogen escapes from the concrete (e.g. through diffusion or crack formation), there is a risk of a hydrogen fire, as hydrogen is highly flammable.
  
• Consequences:
  
• Safety risk for the surrounding area.
  
• Additional thermal stress on the concrete.

Due to its high material density and strength, the risk is only present to a very limited extent
with UHPC concrete.

Ultra-high performance concrete offers many advantages, but requires careful planning and adaptation when exposed to hydrogen, especially in demanding applications such as hydrogen storage or transport lines.

WPE-DK UHPC (Ultra High Performance Concrete) in modern yacht and industrial shipbuilding

Ferrocement is a term for a concrete system from which ship hulls have been built since the First World War. Many sailing ship hulls worldwide were built with ferrocement concrete during and after the Second World War. The assembly was largely carried out by hand on the company's own premises using a trowel. The assembly was very time-consuming. Small and medium-sized shipyards built ferrocement hulls individually. When people in the navy talk about concrete boats today, they always think of this outdated ferrocement material and the time-consuming assembly.

WPE-DK UHPC concrete is definitely superior to this very old ferrocement technology in all technical and assembly aspects. WPE-DK UHPC concretes have been used for more than 25 years under the toughest wear and corrosion conditions in industries such as offshore, steel industry, chemical industry, coastal protection, harbour constructions etc.. UHPC concretes achieve a compressive strength of well over 200 MPa.
UHPC concrete is watertight from a layer thickness of 15 mm. UHPC concrete is completely resistant to salt water. In combination with a non-metallic reinforcement, one can speak of a generation ship in terms of the expected service life.
Today, WPE-DK concretes are processed as mortar, castable and shotcrete. UHPC concrete can be installed quickly even on large areas and complex geometries.
Industrial mass production of UHPC hulls is possible without any problems.
In recent years, UHPC lightweight concretes have also been developed that can be used for lightweight and insulating boat constructions.