Modeling of Hydrogen Sulfide Oxidation in Concrete Corrosion Products from Sewer Pipes

Abstract

Abiotic and biotic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide related to concrete corrosion was studied in corrosion products originating from a sewer manhole. The concrete corrosion products were suspended in an acidic solution, mimicking the conditions in the pore water of corroded concrete. The removal of hydrogen sulfide and dissolved oxygen was measured in parallel in the suspension, upon which the suspension was sterilized and the measurement repeated. The results revealed the biotic oxidation to be fast compared with the abiotic oxidation. The stoichiometry of the hydrogen sulfide oxidation was evaluated using the ratio between oxygen and hydrogen sulfide uptake. The ratio for the biotic oxidation pointed in the direction of elemental sulfur being formed as an intermediate in the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to sulfuric acid. The experimental results were applied to suggest a hypothesis and a mathematical model describing the hydrogen sulfide oxidation pathway in a matrix of corroded concrete.

Fate of sulfide in the Frasassi cave system and implications for sulfuric acid speleogenesis

“…As expected based on previous studies comparing biological and abiotic sulfide oxidation rates (e.g., Jørgensen et al, 1979;Jannasch Degassing rate , 1991;Jensen et al, 2009;Luther et al, 2011), sulfide removal by microbial oxidation is much faster in Frasassi streams than abiotic oxidation (Table 1). Our measured microbial oxidation rates are consistent with microsensor-based measurements of microbial sulfide oxidation in aphotic biofilms from a variety of other sulfidic environments, which can vary from 0.05 to 1.16 μmol m −2 s −1 (see compilation by Schwedt et al, 2011).…”

Growth kinetics of hydrogen sulfide oxidizing bacteria in corroded concrete from sewers

“…This suggests the formation of a mixture of elemental sulfur and sulfur at a higher oxidation state than zero. This is in accordance with the findings of Jensen et al [18].…”

“…The growth kinetics were studied by suspending samples of concrete corrosion products in deionized water adjusted to pH 1 in order to mimic the acidic conditions found on corroded concrete [18]. The samples of corrosion products were collected from a pilot scale setup simulating a concrete gravity sewer with continuously dosing of hydrogen sulfide into the sewer atmosphere [20], and were thus expected to contain the microbial community responsible for the sulfuric acid production causing the corrosion.…”

“…The oxidation of hydrogen sulfide has been shown to be mainly a biological process [10,18]. In addition, the number of active hydrogen sulfide oxidizing bacteria, within the matrix of corroded concrete, has been identified as a key factor in predicting the corrosion rate of concrete exposed to hydrogen sulfide [19].…”

Impact of water source management practices in residential areas on sewer networks – a review

“…The most common bacteria for biological oxidation are acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (Okabe et al 2007). The rate of biological oxidation is higher than chemical oxidation because the biological oxidation produces readily biodegradable elemental sulphur as its end product, while chemical oxidation's end product is predicted to have slowly biodegradable elemental sulphur (Jensen et al 2009). …”