Biogenic sulfuric acid attack on different types of commercially produced concrete sewer pipes

Gutierrez-Padilla, Ma.Guadalupe D.; Bielefeldt, Angela R.; Ovtchinnikov, Serguei; Hernandez, Mark; Silverstein, JoAnn

doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2009.10.002

Cited by 144 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Microbially mediated damage of concrete has been recognized for over 65 years [46,47]. Conventionally, the high pH of paste is assumed to make concrete inhospitable for most microbes without the formation of thick biofilms as occurs, for example, in bacterially mediated degradation of wastewater sewage pipes (e.g., [48]). However, the gradient-induced microenviroments result in a range of pH that spans conditions that are compatible with various bacteria, raising the possibility that microbes could exploit the pH gradient associated with the paste-aggregate boundary and with ASR gel.…”

Section: Implications Of a Geochemical Microenvironment At Paste-aggrmentioning

confidence: 99%

A thermodynamic and kinetic model for paste–aggregate interactions and the alkali–silica reaction

Guthrie

Carey

2015

Cement and Concrete Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tA new conceptual model is developed for ASR formation based on geochemical principles tied to aqueous speciation, silica solubility, kinetically controlled mineral dissolution, and diffusion. ASR development is driven largely by pH and silica gradients that establish geochemical microenvironments between paste and aggregate, with gradients the strongest within the aggregate adjacent to the paste boundary (i.e., where ASR initially forms). Super-saturation of magadiite and okenite (crystalline ASR surrogates) occurs in the zone defined by gradients in pH, dissolved silica, Na + , and Ca 2+ . This model provides a thermodynamic rather than kinetic explanation of why quartz generally behaves differently from amorphous silica: quartz solubility does not produce sufficiently high concentrations of H 4 SiO 4 to super-saturate magadiite, whereas amorphous silica does. The model also explains why pozzolans do not generate ASR: their fine-grained character precludes formation of chemical gradients. Finally, these gradients have interesting implications beyond the development of ASR, creating unique biogeochemical environments.

show abstract

Section: Implications Of a Geochemical Microenvironment At Paste-aggrmentioning

confidence: 99%

A thermodynamic and kinetic model for paste–aggregate interactions and the alkali–silica reaction

Guthrie

Carey

2015

Cement and Concrete Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The required remediation actions are often challenging as individual processes linked to MICC still remain uncertain and thus typically generate high costs. It has been estimated in 2002 that the United States need to spend about 390 billion dollars within the following 20 years in order to keep the existing wastewater infrastructure on life support [1]. In 1996, over 520 million dollars were spent solely in Los Angeles County for restorations of corroded sewer systems, which were directly assigned to MICC [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The so-called microbially induced concrete corrosion (MICC) [1,2] is considered to significantly reduce the lifespan of concrete structures, from expected 100 down to 30-50 years, in extreme cases even down to 10 years [3]. The required remediation actions are often challenging as individual processes linked to MICC still remain uncertain and thus typically generate high costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiologically induced concrete corrosion: A case study from a combined sewer network

Grengg

Mittermayr

Baldermann

et al. 2015

Cement and Concrete Research

147

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, a strongly deteriorated concrete-based sewer system was investigated by using a multi proxy approach based on gaseous, hydro-geochemical, microbiological, mineralogical and mechanical analyses. Therefore, gas, liquid, and solid samples were taken throughout the entire sewer system. Long term measurements of gaseous hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) within the sewer atmosphere yielded concentrations up to 367 ppm. Interstitial fluids, extracted from deteriorated concrete by squeezing, contained sulfate (SO 4 2− ) concentrations of up to 104 g l −1 at strong acidic conditions (0.7 N pH N 3.1) and are close to the saturation state of gypsum. This sulfuric acid attack is indicative for a well-established biofilm containing sulfide oxidizing bacteria (SOB), which was analyzed to consist mainly of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans. The micro-structure of the attacked concrete displays a progressing alteration zone, which is caused by microbially induced concrete corrosion (MICC), with a suggested pH gradient from about 13 to b 1, from the intact inner concrete zone to the outermost heavily deteriorated concrete. Calcium sulfate minerals such as gypsum (CaSO 4 · 2H 2 O), bassanite (CaSO 4 · 1/2H 2 O) and anhydrite (CaSO 4 ) are abundant in the altered concrete, which were formed from the dissolution of the cement phases and Ca-bearing aggregates. Remarkably high corrosion rates of different precast concrete manholes were quantified to reach values greater than 1 cm yr −1 , despite the fact that C 3 A-free cement, fly ash and a w/c of~0.35 was used.

show abstract

“…F5 was still at a very early stage of corrosion, with a slight surface pH neutralisation, which is likely caused through acidification by CO 2 and H 2 S . Low levels of sulfur species were detected on the F5 coupon surface ( Table 10-1) occurred to lower the surface pH to 4-5 (Charnnok et al, 2013;Gutié rrez-Padilla et al, 2010;Moghanloo et al, 2010). Subsequently, coupon P50 was at an advanced stage of corrosion with pH at around 2, suggesting that acidophilic microorganisms were well established and prevalent on the coupon (Okabe et al, 2007;Zhang et al, 2009b).…”

Section: Surface Ph and Sulfur Speciesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…On a thick corrosion layer sulfide oxidation would be limited to certain regions within the layer depending on the diffusion gradients of dissolved oxygen and H 2 S and the distribution of SOB. Additionally, extremely low pH resulting from the acid production within the corrosion layer would in turn inhibit the activity of SOB (Gutié rrez-Padilla et al, 2010;Mahmood et al, 2008;Nielsen et al, 2008). Likely, an increasing corrosion thickness would increase the barrier for acid diffusion to the corrosion front.…”

Section: Potential Mechanisms Of Corrosion Mitigation By Surface Washingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the understanding of concrete sewer corrosion through investigations of the gaseous hydrogen sulfide uptake and transformation processes in the corrosion layer

Sun¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sulfide-induced corrosion of sewer infrastructure costs multi-billion dollars globally. Sewer maintenance and management largely depends on the estimation of the sewer corrosion rate, which currently can be very rough due to poor understanding of details of the process. Hence improved understanding of the corrosion processes has a major beneficial impact globally through increased service life and reduced repair/replacement costs. The overall aim of this thesis is to improve the understanding of sewer corrosion processes and develop strategies for corrosion control.To rapidly and non-destructively monitor the corrosion process, a methodology was developed based on measuring the H 2 S (sulfide) uptake rates (SUR) of concrete. The SUR of concrete coupons was determined by monitoring the temporal gaseous H 2 S concentrations in a temperature-and humidity-controlled gas-tight reactor. The results from repeated tests showed good reliability of the method. A severely corroded coupon exhibited higher SUR than a less corroded coupon, suggesting that the former having a higher sulfide oxidation activity than the latter. Additionally, temperature changes had a stronger effect on the SUR of the heavily corroded coupon compared to the less corroded coupon. The corrosion rates estimated from the SUR agreed well with those observed in real sewers under similar conditions. The effect high H 2 S concentrations on the SUR of coupon were investigated. During the high load situation, the SUR increased significantly but then decreased (compared to the baseline SUR) by about 7 -14% and 41 -50% immediately after short-and long-term high H 2 S load periods, respectively. For both conditions, the SUR gradually (over several hours) recovered to approximately 90% of the baseline SUR. Further tests suggest multiple factors may contribute to the observed decrease of SUR directly after the high H 2 S load. This includes the temporary storage of elemental sulfur in the corrosion layer and inhibition of sulfide oxidizing bacteria due to high H 2 S level and temporary acid surge. The sensitivity of the coupon SUR towards high H 2 S loads was largely dependent on its historical H 2 S exposure levels. IIThe deprivation of gaseous H 2 S for 1 h consistently caused temporary increase of the H 2 S uptake rate (SUR) immediately upon H 2 S re-supply whereas deprivation of both gaseous H 2 S and O 2 for 1 h posed little increase of the SUR after re-supply. The results suggest that the H 2 S uptake process could be limited by the oxidation of reduced sulfur species. Furthermore, the SUR decreased by 1.2% after deprivation of H 2 S for a relative long-term (i.e. 12 h), suggesting a reduced biological activity after the extended "starvation".The details of sulfide oxidation by comparing oxidation activity of a suspended solution of a corrosion layer with gaseous H 2 S uptake activity of a coupon were investigated. With sufficient dissolved oxygen (DO) and in the presence of sulfide, the mole ratio of consumed The potential of mitigating sewer cor...

show abstract

Biogenic sulfuric acid attack on different types of commercially produced concrete sewer pipes

Cited by 144 publications

References 20 publications

A thermodynamic and kinetic model for paste–aggregate interactions and the alkali–silica reaction

A thermodynamic and kinetic model for paste–aggregate interactions and the alkali–silica reaction

Microbiologically induced concrete corrosion: A case study from a combined sewer network

Improving the understanding of concrete sewer corrosion through investigations of the gaseous hydrogen sulfide uptake and transformation processes in the corrosion layer

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About