Experimental drying and desalination of bricks, sandstones and masonry under an applied electric field

Dewatering and desalination of building constructions is currently a discussed topic. At the present time, different techniques for dewatering and desalination can be used. The existing methods are efficient but it is necessary to improve these methods and to develop new ones. The moisture in the building constructions is directly connected with the salts, which can be dissolved in it and together with the moisture further to move. The salts can cause damage of constructions and change mechanical and physical properties of the buildings materials. The basic demands for dewatering and desalination are the speed, efficiency and economical factors. Presented dissertation focuses on dewatering and desalination with the use of electrokinetic methods together with the technique of the clay poultices. In the first part of the thesis, basic theoretical principles of moisture and salts are described. In the second part (experimental part), the series of experimental measurements were conducted both in the laboratory and in situ. In this part of dissertation, I was dewatering and desalinating bricks and sandstones under an applied electric field. The main focus was on the optimization of a laboratory setup in order to get the highest efficiency for dewatering and desalination. Other measurements were done in situ, where the same technique was used