Long-term in situ performance of geopolymer, calcium aluminate and Portland cement-based materials exposed to microbially induced acid corrosion

Grengg, Cyrill; Ukrainczyk, Neven; Koraimann, Günther; Mueller, Bernhard; Dietzel, Martin; Mittermayr, Florian

doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2020.106034

Cited by 85 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The gypsum layer thickness grew almost 5 mm in 112 days. While the two CAC-based mixtures showed only 3 and 2 mm gypsum thickness development from 7 days, similar results were also found in [ 25 ]. Without fibre addition, CAC-GGBFS1.5 showed cracks inside the sample.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Durability of Fibre-Reinforced Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC)–Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Blended Mortar after Sulfuric Acid Attack

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et al. 2020

Materials

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Concrete wastewater infrastructures are important to modern society but are susceptible to sulfuric acid attack when exposed to an aggressive environment. Fibre-reinforced mortar has been adopted as a promising coating and lining material for degraded reinforced concrete structures due to its unique crack control and excellent anti-corrosion ability. This paper aims to evaluate the performance of polyethylene (PE) fibre-reinforced calcium aluminate cement (CAC)–ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) blended strain-hardening mortar after sulfuric acid immersion, which represented the aggressive sewer environment. Specimens were exposed to 3% sulfuric acid solution for up to 112 days. Visual, physical and mechanical performance such as water absorption ability, sorptivity, compressive and direct tensile strength were evaluated before and after sulfuric acid attack. In addition, micro-structure changes to the samples after sulfuric acid attack were also assessed by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to further understand the deterioration mechanism. The results show that overall fibre-reinforced calcium aluminate cement (CAC)-based samples performed significantly better than fibre-reinforced ordinary Portland cement (OPC)-based samples as well as mortar samples in sulfuric acid solution in regard to visual observations, penetration depth, direct tensile strength and compressive reduction. Gypsum generation in the cementitious matrix of both CAC and OPC-based systems was the main reason behind the deterioration mechanism after acid attack exposure. Moreover, laboratory sulfuric acid testing has been proven for successfully screening the cementitious material against an acidic environment. This method can be considered to design the service life of concrete wastewater pipes.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Durability of Fibre-Reinforced Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC)–Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Blended Mortar after Sulfuric Acid Attack

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Zhuge

et al. 2020

Materials

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“…The four different stages of the pH evolution were consistent with the observations found on cementitious materials exposed in situ [ 12 , 32 , 48 ]. In the early stages of the biogenic attack, the production of sulfuric acid was low due to the low activity of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria in the inoculum [ 9 , 13 , 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Such acidification resulted in the growth of ASOB accompanied by the production of a significant amount of acid. While the development of ASOB in sewer networks takes from several months to several years, as reported in the literature, the BAC test was able to reach the active deterioration phase of the materials in sewer conditions after only 1 month [ 32 , 48 , 50 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the sulfate concentration in the leaching solutions increased after 10 days of exposure to the BAC test, which corresponded to the development of neutrophilic SOB. During this stage, the production of acid on the surface of the materials resulted in the decalcification of calcic hydrates–such as CH and C-(A)-S-H for Portland-based materials, and C 3 AH 6 and CAH 10 for CAC-based materials–and the release of OH − [ 12 , 13 , 33 , 48 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Laboratory Test to Evaluate the Resistance of Cementitious Materials to Biodeterioration in Sewer Network Conditions

et al. 2021

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The biodeterioration of cementitious materials in sewer networks has become a major economic, ecological, and public health issue. Establishing a suitable standardized test is essential if sustainable construction materials are to be developed and qualified for sewerage environments. Since purely chemical tests are proven to not be representative of the actual deterioration phenomena in real sewer conditions, a biological test–named the Biogenic Acid Concrete (BAC) test–was developed at the University of Toulouse to reproduce the biological reactions involved in the process of concrete biodeterioration in sewers. The test consists in trickling a solution containing a safe reduced sulfur source onto the surface of cementitious substrates previously covered with a high diversity microbial consortium. In these conditions, a sulfur-oxidizing metabolism naturally develops in the biofilm and leads to the production of biogenic sulfuric acid on the surface of the material. The representativeness of the test in terms of deterioration mechanisms has been validated in previous studies. A wide range of cementitious materials have been exposed to the biodeterioration test during half a decade. On the basis of this large database and the expertise gained, the purpose of this paper is (i) to propose a simple and robust performance criterion for the test (standardized leached calcium as a function of sulfate produced by the biofilm), and (ii) to demonstrate the repeatability, reproducibility, and discriminability of the test method. In only a 3-month period, the test was able to highlight the differences in the performances of common cement-based materials (CEM I, CEM III, and CEM V) and special calcium aluminate cement (CAC) binders with different nature of aggregates (natural silica and synthetic calcium aluminate). The proposed performance indicator (relative standardized leached calcium) allowed the materials to be classified according to their resistance to biogenic acid attack in sewer conditions. The repeatability of the test was confirmed using three different specimens of the same material within the same experiment and the reproducibility of the results was demonstrated by standardizing the results using a reference material from 5 different test campaigns. Furthermore, developing post-testing processing and calculation methods constituted a first step toward a standardized test protocol.

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“…However, the type and reactivity of powder precursors, variations in liquid-to-solid ratios (l/s), different alkali silicate solutions, and the type and concentration of acidic solution make it difficult to generalize knowledge about the degradation mechanism by comparing results from different publications. The progress of geopolymer corrosion in an acidic environment can vary significantly by applying different powdery precursors [ 35 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Sulfuric Acid-Induced Degradation of Potassium Silicate Activated Metakaolin Geopolymers by Semi-Quantitative SEM-EDX Analysis

et al. 2020

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Geopolymers are synthesized by mixing powdery solids, rich in amorphous silicon and aluminum species, with an alkaline solution, which leads to the formation of an inorganic alumosilicate network. Their acid resistance is affected by the composition, the porosity, and pore size distribution of the hardened binder as well as the type and concentration of the acidic solution. In the present study, two geopolymer mixtures with varying liquid-to-solid ratios and Si/Al ratios were exposed to a sulfuric acid solution (pH = 1) and analyzed after different durations of exposure (7, 14, 28, 56, and 70 days) by using a light microscope and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). SEM-EDX elemental mapping was used to evaluate the degradation from depth profiles of silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), and potassium (K) leaching. The results clearly show the leaching kinetics of potassium and the dealumination of the network. The separate consideration of specific reaction steps in the course of degradation, namely the depth of erosion (DE), the depth of deterioration (DD), and the depth of reaction for certain elements (DR(e)), indicate a combination of chemical and diffusion controlled degradation mechanisms.

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Long-term in situ performance of geopolymer, calcium aluminate and Portland cement-based materials exposed to microbially induced acid corrosion

Cited by 85 publications

References 33 publications

Durability of Fibre-Reinforced Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC)–Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Blended Mortar after Sulfuric Acid Attack

Durability of Fibre-Reinforced Calcium Aluminate Cement (CAC)–Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) Blended Mortar after Sulfuric Acid Attack

Laboratory Test to Evaluate the Resistance of Cementitious Materials to Biodeterioration in Sewer Network Conditions

Evaluation of Sulfuric Acid-Induced Degradation of Potassium Silicate Activated Metakaolin Geopolymers by Semi-Quantitative SEM-EDX Analysis

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