Professor at the SPbGASU Department of Construction Technology Antonina Yudina received patent No. 2852076 "Method for activating mixing water for a construction mixture."

The invention involves pre-treating water with an electric field from electrodes in a sealed container and then mixing it with dosed concrete mix components. The soluble electrode stack is made of aluminum plates, insulated from each other by a dielectric and connected to a power source. One electrode is connected to the positive pole (anode), the other to the negative pole (cathode). The electric field strength is 20–30 V/cm, and the water treatment lasts five to seven minutes.

The technical result is a reduction in energy consumption due to a shorter concrete curing time from casting to formwork removal, and an increase in formwork turnover due to a shorter isothermal heating time without excess cement consumption. Furthermore, the strength, frost resistance, and homogeneity of the concrete are increased.

When cement is mixed with water pre-treated with an electric field, a reaction occurs between calcium hydroxide and aluminum hydroxide. This reaction results in the formation of calcium hydroaluminates and activation of the mixture. These aggregates (calcium hydroaluminates) serve as ready-made crystallization centers. These centers facilitate the rapid crystallization of new formations that precipitate from supersaturated solutions during the interaction of the binder with water. This process accelerates the hardening of binders.

The results were confirmed by laboratory tests. A 21% increase in strength was observed after seven days of curing. Cement consumption per cubic meter of concrete mix was reduced by 10, 15, and 20%, while water consumption remained constant, but the water-cement ratio increased.