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Performance of Three Magnesium-based Coatings for Corrosion Protection of Concrete against Sulfuric Acid

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Abstract

The biogenic deterioration of large diameter concrete pipes constitutes a major problem in most sewerage systems. The protection of concrete against sulfuric acid produced in situ biogenically by certain microorganisms is of major interest. This study is focusing on the protection of concrete by applying relatively low-cost, magnesium-based coatings that can react and capture (neutralize) effectively the produced sulfuric acid. Three specific magnesium-based coatings were examined, i.e., a magnesium hydroxide/calcium hydroxide coating (C1), a magnesium hydroxide/calcium hydroxide coating with the supplementary addition of an acrylic additive (C2), and a magnesium phosphate cement coating (C3). The respective magnesium coatings were applied onto appropriate concrete specimens and evaluated by various experimental methods, regarding their anticorrosion capability. More specifically, the coated and the uncoated (used for comparison reasons) concrete specimens were subjected to two accelerated tests, i.e., a sulfuric acid immersion test and a sulfuric acid spraying test, attempting to simulate the real conditions existing in a sewer pipe internal wall surface. Multiple measurements performed to evaluate the respective coating performance, such as mass recordings, compressive strength, and surface pH measurements. The surface pH of the coated specimens was higher, as compared to the uncoated specimens, with the coating C3 presenting 7.8 surface pH value after four days of acid spraying. Overall, the coating C3 seemed to offer the best corrosion protection to concrete with respect to the other two examined coatings.

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Acknowledgements

An initial version of the paper has been included in the e-Proceedings of the “15th International Conference Protection and Restoration of the Environment”, 2020, Patras, Greece, ISBN 978-618-82337-2-0. This research has been co-financed by the European Union and Greek national funds through the Operational Program Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, under the call RESEARCH – CREATE – INNOVATE (project code: T1EDK-02355).

The authors wish to thank the Grecian Magnesite S.A. Company for suppling the raw materials and the respective information. Additionally, the authors thank the Laboratory of Building Materials, Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, for providing laboratory equipment for the experiments. Finally, the authors thank Dr. K. Simeonidis and Associate Professor G. Vourlias, Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, for performing the XRD measurements.

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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Chemical and Environmental Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    A. Chatzis, D. Merachtsaki & A. Zouboulis

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  1. A. Chatzis
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  2. D. Merachtsaki
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  3. A. Zouboulis
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Contributions

Conceptualization: D.M. and A.Z.; methodology: D.M. and A.Z..; validation: D.M.; investigation: A.C. and D.M.; resource: A.Z.; data curation, A.C. and D.M.; writing—original draft preparation: D.M.; writing—review and editing: A.Z.; supervision: A.Z.; project administration: A.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to A. Zouboulis.

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Article Highlights

• The compressive strength of coated (C2, C3) concrete was preserved during acid immersion

• The examined coatings presented adhesion malfunctions, when applied onto concrete substrate

• Coating C3 presented the optimal results and offer better protection to concrete

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Chatzis, A., Merachtsaki, D. & Zouboulis, A. Performance of Three Magnesium-based Coatings for Corrosion Protection of Concrete against Sulfuric Acid. Environ. Process. 9, 12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-022-00568-w

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