Chemical and microbiological tests to simulate sulfuric acid corrosion of polymer-modified concrete

In certain industrial activities sulfuric acid is used during the production process, which may cause degradation of concrete structures. Another important phenomenon where sulfuric acid is responsible for concrete corrosion is biogenic sulfuric acid corrosion, which occurs often in sewer systems. Because previous investigations have already pointed out the difference between purely chemical sulfuric acid corrosion and biogenic sulfuric acid corrosion two different tests were performed: a chemical test and a microbiological test. Five different concrete compositions were used in the tests, including a reference mixture with high sulfate resistant portland cement and four different polymer cement concrete with a styrene–acrylic ester polymer, an acrylic polymer, a styrene butadiene polymer and a vinylcopolymer, respectively. The concrete composition with the styrene–acrylic ester polymer showed in both tests a higher resistance than the reference mixture while the compositions with the acrylic polymer and the styrene butadiene polymer had a lower resistance than the reference mixture. The concrete composition with the vinylcopolymer did not induce the same results in both tests. The results of the chemical test indicated a slight increase in resistance compared with the reference mixture while the opposite was noticed for the microbiological test.