Liquid nitrogen-cooled diamond-wire concrete cutting. Innovative technology summary report

Liquid nitrogen-cooled diamond-wire concrete cutting can be used to cut through thick concrete walls, floors, and structures without using water to cool the cutting wire. The diamond wire is cooled with liquid nitrogen in a 0.9-m (3-ft) long by 7.6-cm (3-in.) diameter pipe housing. The nitrogen evaporates, so no contaminated liquid waste is generated. Other than the use of liquid nitrogen, the system is a conventional diamond-wire saw assembly with remote hydraulic controls. Setup of the hydraulic-powered drive wheel and the diamond wire for cutting requires a relatively short period of time using people with minimal training. Concrete dust generated during the cutting is considerable and requires control. The production rate of this improved technology is 0.78 m{sup 2}/hr (8.4 ft{sup 2}/hr). The production rates of traditional (baseline) water-cooled diamond-wire cutting and circular saw cutting technologies are 1.11 m{sup 2}/hr (12 ft{sup 2}/hr), and 0.45 m{sup 2}/hr (4.8 ft{sup 2}/hr), respectively. The liquid nitrogen-cooled system costs 189% more than conventional diamond-wire cutting if contaminated liquid wastes collection, treatment, and disposal are not accounted for with the baseline. The new technology was 310% more costly than a conventional diamond circular saw, under the conditions of this demonstration (no wastewater control). For cutting a 0.9-m x 3.7-m (3-ft x 12-ft) wall, the improved technology costs $17,000, while baseline diamond-wire cutting would cost $9,000 and baseline circular-saw cutting would cost $5,500. The improved system may cost less than the baseline technologies or may be comparable in cost if wastewater control is included