Thermal Plasma in Construction Industry

During the global financial crisis, the development of priority industries, including the production of construction materials, is the guarantor of intensive economic recovery in Russia. A number of weaknesses that do not allow using the conventional methods and raw materials sources are identified through the analysis of limitations in the conventional production processes of construction materials and composite coatings. This paper considers the technological alternatives for the plasma-assisted production of materials, coatings and powders. The paper presents the two applications for highly concentrated plasma flows, namely, the production and modification of various construction materials and coatings and the use of nonstandard raw materials, such as industrial wastes from thermal power plants and metallurgical production. These raw materials cannot be used in conventional production processes due to their specific chemical composition and high melting temperatures. Owing to its unique properties, low-temperature plasma provides the modification of complex dispersion systems, in which the particle interaction occurs at subatomic levels providing the formation of materials with enhanced physical and mechanical properties.