Sulfur concrete
Sulfur concrete is a composite construction material, composed mainly of sulfur and aggregate (generally a coarse aggregate made of gravel or crushed rocks and a fine aggregate such as sand). Cement and water, important compounds in normal concrete, are not part of sulfur concrete. The concrete is heated above the melting point of sulfur ca. 140 °C (284 °F) in a ratio of between 12% and 25% sulfur, the rest being aggregate.[1] After cooling the concrete reaches a high strength, not needing a prolonged curing like normal concrete.
Sulfur concrete is resistant to some compounds like acids which attack normal concrete, however unlike ordinary concrete, it cannot withstand prolonged high heat without adjusted mixture.[2]
Sulfur concrete was developed and promoted as building material to get rid of large amounts of stored sulfur produced by hydrodesulfurization of gas and oil. As of 2011, sulfur concrete has only been used in small quantities when fast curing or acid resistance is necessary.[3][4] The material has been suggested by researchers as a potential building material on Mars, where water and limestone are not available, but sulfur is.[5][6]
More recently it has been proposed as an alternative as a carbon neutral construction material. Its waterless, low energy requiring production in comparison to regular concrete and cement makes it an excellent alternative for highly polluting portland cement-based materials. Due to improvements in production techniques, it could be produced in high quality and in large quantities. Recyclable sulfur concrete sleepers were used in Belgium, which were mass-produced locally.[7]
See also
- Asphalt concrete, similar aggregate material using 'bitumen' as a binder
- Lunarcrete: Sulfur based "Waterless Concrete", for proposals for its use as a lunar construction material
- Cenocell
References
- Abdel-Mohsen Onsy Mohamed; Maisa El-Gamal (15 July 2010). Sulfur Concrete for the Construction Industry: A Sustainable Development Approach. J. Ross Publishing. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-60427-005-1.
- Nick Jones. "Mixing it on Mars" (PDF). The Concrete Centre.
- Brandt, Andrzej Marek (1995). Cement-based composites: Materials, mechanical properties and performance. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-419-19110-0.
- "Sulfur Concrete – A New Construction Material" (PDF). Prestressed Concrete Institute: 86–95. 1974. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Wan, Lin, Roman Wendner, and Gianluca Cusatis. "A novel material for in situ construction on Mars: experiments and numerical simulations." Construction and Building Materials 120 (2016): 222-231.
- "To build settlements on Mars, we'll need materials chemistry". cen.acs.org. 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- "First recyclable sulfur concrete sleepers placed in Belgium". RailTech.com. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
Further reading
- Husam A. Omar & Mohsen Issa (1994). "Production of Lunar Concrete Using Molten Sulfur" (PDF). In Rodney G. Galloway & Stanley Lokaj (eds.). Engineering, construction, and operations in space IV: Space '94; Proceedings of the 4th International Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 26–March 3, 1994. Vol. 2. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers. pp. 952–959. ISBN 0872629376.
- I. Casanova (1997). "Feasibility and Applications of Sulfur Concrete for Lunar Base Development: A Preliminary Study" (PDF). 28th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 17–21, 1997, Houston, TX. p. 209.
- T. D. Lin; Steven B. Skaar & Joseph J. O'Gallagher (April 1997). "Proposed remote control solar powered concrete production experiment on the Moon". Aerospace Engineering. 10 (2): 104–109. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0893-1321(1997)10:2(104).
- Houssam Toutanji; Becca Glenn-Loper & Beth Schrayshuen (2005). "43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit". 43rd AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit 10 – 13 January 2005, Reno, Nevada. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. doi:10.2514/6.2005-1436. ISBN 978-1-62410-064-2.
- R.N. Grugel & Houssam Toutanji (2006). "Viability of Sulfur "Concrete" on the Moon: Environmental Consideration". Proceedings: 43rd American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reno, NV, Jan. 9-12, 2006. — also:
- R. Grugel & Houssam Toutanji (2006). "Viability of Sulfur Concrete on the Moon: Environmental Considerations". Journal of Advances in Space Research.
- Richard N. Grugela & Houssam Toutanji (2008). "Sulfur "concrete" for lunar applications — Sublimation concerns". Advances in Space Research. 41 (1): 103–112. Bibcode:2008AdSpR..41..103G. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.08.018.