Sulfur concrete
water and sunlight, unreactivity to
receives another look
An excess of sulfur may
help solve the dearth of
portland cement
n increasing availability of
A sulfur in Canada has led to
investigations which indi-
cate that it can be used to
make concrete that may be superi-
or to portland cement concrete for
certain applications.
As with all new developments sul-
fur concrete is not without its disad-
vantages, and its applications will
obviously have to be chosen with all
characteristics in mind.
It is too early to predict with cer-
tainty what applications will ulti-
mately prove to be suitable for sul-
fur concrete but the following
appear worth considering: industri-
al floors, bridge decks, curbs, tanks,
pipes or pipe linings and tunnel lin-
ings. It should be clear that sulfur
concrete cannot be considered as a
general replacement for portland
cement concrete. Rather it can be
expected to be used primarily for
applications not suited to portland
cement concrete.
Strength of sulfur concrete
Sulfur may be combined with fine
and coarse aggregates to produce a
concrete with a strength of 6000 to
7000 psi. Figure 1 provides a com-
parison of mix proportions for sul-
fur concrete and portland cement
concrete of 5000 psi at 24 hours. Fig-
ure 2 offers a comparison of
strength gain with sulfur and port-
land cement concrete. Clearly, sul-
fur concrete has possible potential
in applications where high early
strength is desired. Although early
strength of portland cement con-
crete may be increased above that
shown by using high early strength
cement, by steam curing or by re-
cently developed hot concrete
methods, costs are increased also.
Sulfur concrete can develop as
much as 90 percent of its ultimate
strength in six hours by simply cool-
ing to ambient temperatures.
Other characteristics
of sulfur concrete
Sulfur concrete exhibits no
shrinkage, but a roughly equivalent
p roblem may arise through the
thermal contraction that occurs as
the fresh concrete cools. It must be
mixed at temperatures well above
the melting point of sulfur, 240°F.
Thermal contraction occurs as the
concrete cools from its crystalliza-
tion tempera t u re of 240°F to the
ambient tempera t u re. Therm a l
movements of sulfur concrete can
be expected to be significant,
m o re over, because the coefficient
of thermal expansion of pure sulfur
exceeds that of steel or concrete.
Present indications are that sulfur
concrete shows considerably more
creep than portland cement con-
c re t e, a disadvantage if increased
deflections are a problem.
Durability of portland cement is
influenced greatly by freeze-thaw
c yc l e s, deicing salts, dilute acids,
sulfate attack and alkali-aggregate
reaction. With sulfur concrete,
durability is predominantly influ-
enced by thermal cycling, concen-
trated rather than dilute acids and
heat and fire. Of lesser influence are
concentrated sodium hydroxide so-
lutions, corrosion of reinforcement
and bacterial attack. The excellent
resistance of sulfur concrete to deic-
ing salts can be expected to interest
bridge and highway engineers.
Miscellaneous properties of sul-
fur concrete include its imperme-
ability, low thermal conductivity,
low electrical conductivity, possible
formation of acid under action of
glass, lack of efflorescence, ex-
tremely smooth finish, high coeffi-
cient of thermal expansion, reac-
tion to copper, and unpleasant odor
when melted.
Many investigators have attempt-
ed to plasticize, or stabilize, sulfur in
its polymeric form, which reported-
ly has a tensile strength more than
12 times that of the crystalline or-
thorhombic form. Un f o rt u n a t e l y,
the solid polymeric sulfur normally
re ve rts over a period of months to
the stable crystalline form and suf-
fers a concomitant reduction in its
tensile strength.
In addition to imparting an objec-
tionable odor to the resulting prod-
uct, plasticizers for sulfur have been
expensive enough to prohibit their
use in construction materials. The
results of recent studies, howe ve r,
have turned up some inexpensive
stabilizers which impart both
strength and durability to sulfur
concrete.
While structural testing has not
yet been completed, preliminary re-
sults indicate beam behavior com-
parable to that of previously tested
portland cement concrete beams.
Mixing and consolidating
A mixing procedure suitable for
sulfur concrete is to preheat the
coarse aggregate to 450°F. The base
of the drum is then preheated and
the hot aggregate introduced. Pow-
dered sulfur is added to the hot ag-
g re g a t e, which melts it. Preheated
sand and fly ash are then added and
all ingredients mixed thoroughly.
The concrete is poured or shoveled
into forms.
Admixtures can be added to sul-
fur to prevent it from burning. It will
melt, howe ve r, when heated to
240°F.
Studies involving the design and
construction of structural members
indicate that vibration of the con-
crete after placement probably is
desirable to help avoid some segre-
gation problems. Also, if the con-
crete is placed while it is well above
the crystallization temperature a
smooth finish will be obtained with
Figure 1. Comparison of strength gain of sulfur concrete and portland cement
concrete.
Figure 2. Comparison of mix proportions for sulfur concrete and portland cement
concrete (5000-psi at 24 hours).
excellent bonding between lifts; if it
is not sufficiently hot a weak cold
joint may occur. There has been
some difficulty in obtaining a
smooth level surface at the top of a
beam because a skin of crystallized
material forms rather quickly so
that troweling is difficult. Since sul-
fur contracts when it crystallizes the
upper surface will dish as the sulfur
hardens.
Cost
Molten sulfur at producing plants
in Alberta costs $12 per long ton
($10.70 per short ton) and about $30
per long ton ($26.80 per short ton)
in tank cars in Chicago. Typical mix
p ro p o rtions for sulfur concrete of
5000 psi strength at 24 hours would
require 25 percent sulfur, 47 percent
coarse aggregate, and 27 percent
sand. The concrete would contain
about one percent air. In Calgary, Al-
berta, the cost per cubic yard for
materials and fuel for heat we re :
Sulfur $4.80
Aggregate 3.80
Fuel 1.75
______
Total $10.35
Very rough estimates of the cost
of sulfur concrete in other parts of
the United States and Canada may
be made by adjusting these figures.
New Canadian production
Until recently the history of cycli-
cal variation in the supply and price
of sulfur discouraged efforts to find
new uses for it. A sharply different
trend appeared in 1968 when a large
number of gas-processing plants in
Alberta, Canada were completed
and began removing sulfur from
sour gas before the natural gas was
piped to the consumer. This has re-
sulted in a large involuntary pro-
duction of sulfur which is, of course,
linked to the eve r- i n c reasing de-
mand for natural gas. Canada is now
the world’s largest exporter of sulfur
and a close second to United States
in total production. Her present in-
ventory of about 11 million tons of
sulfur is expected to reach 22 mil-
lion tons by the end of 1975. Be-
cause of concern for the situation,
the Sulphur Development Institute
of Canada has been established at
Calgary, Alberta. It will provide
funds to encourage research and
development likely to create new
markets for sulfur.
This article is based entirely on infor-
mation given in the article “Sulfur Con-
crete—A New Construction Material,”
by Robert E. Loov, Alan H. Vroom and
Michael A. Ward, in the PCI Journal,
January-February 1974, pages 86-95.
PUBLICATION #C740295
Copyright © 1974, The Aberdeen Group
All rights reserved