Impact of leaching on chloride ingress profiles in concrete

To investigate the effect of leaching on chloride ingress profiles in concrete and mortar, we exposed concrete and mortar specimens for 90 and 180 days to two different exposure solutions: 3% NaCl, and 3% NaCl with KOH added to limit leaching. The solutions were replaced weekly. After exposure, we determined total chloride profiles to investigate the chloride ingress, and portlandite profiles to assess the extent of leaching. The results showed that leaching during exposure greatly affects the chloride ingress profiles in mortar and concrete. We found that leaching leads to considerably higher maximum total chloride content and deeper chloride penetration into the concrete than in the specimens where leaching was limited. We recommend therefore that leaching should be taken into account in standard laboratory testing and that more mechanistic service life models should be used to take into account the impact of leaching.

Durability and chemical resistance of nanoparticles fly ash and silica fume belite cement pastes against sulfate and chloride aggressive media- Part II

The durability (chemical resistence) of the Portland cement (OPC), belite cement (BC) and the optimum belite cement (B4), which their physical and chemo/mechanical properties were perviously investigated in Part I, against 4 % MgSO4 and 4% MgCl2 solutions up to 12 months in terms of compressive strength, total sulfate and total chloride was evaluated and studied. Results showed that the optimum belite cement (B4) containing 15 % High pulverized fly ash (HPFA) and 5 % Silica fume (SF) could be resisted up to 6 months, while that of BC could be withstood only up to 5 months, and the OPC could not resist more than three months of immersion in 4% MgSO4 solution. The compressive strength values exhibited by the samples immesed in sulfate solution at 3, 5 and 6 months of immersion were 83.81, 76.38 and 91.13 MPa, respectively. The same trend was displayed when the same samples were exposed to 4% MgCl2 solution. The compressive strength values exhibited by the same samples exposed to chloride solution at 3, 5 and 6 months of immersion were 84.49, 82.23 and 93.32 MPa, respectively. The total sulfate and chloride contents were enhanced with immesion time up to 12 months, but their values were the minimum with B4 and the maximum with OPC, while with BC were the medium. The optimum cement batch (B4) achieved the highest resistance where it recorded the lowest values for sulfate and chloride ions, but the OPC exhibited the lowest resistance where it recorded the highest values of sulfate and chloride contents at all immersion ages till 12 months.

Study of Sodium Chloride Production Using Gradual Evaporation of Seawater from Nggolonio Sea, East Nusa Tenggara

Sea water as a raw material resources for the kitchen salt production, besides containing NaCl, has also containing other dissolved salts such as hygroscopic calcium and magnesium salts. The high content of other salts cause industrial NaCl has a low quality. This aim research was to find out the effect of seawater evaporation on NaCl content changes. Seawater obtained from Nggolonto, Nagekeo, NTT, was used with an initial volume of 200 mL, then it was concentrated in varying of final volume, i.e. 20, 23, 25, 27 and 29 mL. The NaCl content was calculated based on total chloride ion content, corrected toward magnesium and calcium ions content and the presence of sulphate anion. In addition, the chloride and magnesium also calcium ions content was analyzed volumetrically, while the sulphate anion was determined spectrophotometrically. The research result showed that NaCl content increase significantly up to 27 mL of final volume and was constantly afterward. Furthermore, the highest of NaCl content obtained from final volume of 29 mL was 96.01%. Nevertheless, comparing to SNI 06-0303-1989, its content was still below the standard of 98.5%.

Basic Study on the Durability of Mortar Containing Blast Furnace Slag Fine Powder with Different Basicity

Chloride ions penetrated reinforced concrete structures. Corrosion of reinforcing bars occurs because of cracks due to corrosion expansion, which is a problem of chloride damage deteriorating structures' performance. Blast furnace slag (from now on referred to as "BFS") is the inevitable by-product of steel product manufacturing as sustainable materials. BFS is more effective in preventing corrosion of reinforcing bars in concrete due to the denser cured and its high ability to immobilize chloride ions. Thus, the influence of BFS on the durability of mortar using BFS powder with different basicity was studied by using "Standard on Test Methods for Chloride Ion Diffusion Coefficients in Concrete" by electrophoresis (Draft) (JSCE-G571-2003)" and the total chloride ion amount was measured following JIS R 5202. The result confirmed that the immobilization performance could be greatly improved by increasing the basicity. It was remarkable in the case of air curing, a curing method for available precast products.

Behavioral Parameters of Planarians (Girardia tigrina) as Fast Screening, Integrative and Cumulative Biomarkers of Environmental Contamination: Preliminary Results

The present study aims to use behavioral responses of the freshwater planarian Girardia tigrina to assess the impact of anthropogenic activities on the aquatic ecosystem of the watershed Araguaia-Tocantins (Tocantins, Brazil). Behavioral responses are integrative and cumulative tools that reflect changes in energy allocation in organisms. Thus, feeding rate and locomotion velocity (pLMV) were determined to assess the effects induced by the laboratory exposure of adult planarians to water samples collected in the region of Tocantins-Araguaia, identifying the sampling points affected by contaminants. Furthermore, physicochemical and microbiological parameters, as well as the presence of inorganic compounds (dissolved aluminum, total barium, total chloride, dissolved iron, total fluoride, total manganese, nitrates, nitric nitrogen, total sulfate, total zinc) and surfactants, were determined on each specific sampling point. The behavioral biomarkers (feeding rate and pLMV) of the freshwater planarians were significantly decreased when organisms were exposed to water samples from four municipalities (Formoso do Araguaia, Lagoa da Confusão, Gurupi and Porto Nacional), sites of the Tocantins-Araguaia hydrographic region—TAHR. Both behavioral biomarkers decreased up to ~37–39% compared to organisms in ASTM medium only. Our results showed that these behavioral biomarkers can be used for fast screening monitoring of environmental samples of freshwater ecosystems, since a decrease in feeding rate and locomotor activity was observed in sites impacted by anthropogenic activities. However, the absence of effects observed in some sampling points does not represent the absence of contamination, since several other classes of contaminants were not determined. In these negative results, the absence of deleterious effects on behavioral biomarkers might only be indicative that the potential presence of contaminants on such sites does not significantly affect the performance of planarians. This fast screening approach seems to be useful to determine contaminated sites in freshwater ecosystems for biomonitoring purposes. This knowledge will help to develop biomonitoring programs and to decide appropriate sampling sites and analysis.

Chloride Binding Capacity and Its Effect on the Microstructure of Mortar Made with Marine Sand

Chloride binding capacity and its effect on the microstructure of mortar made with marine sand (MS), washed MS (WMS) and river sand (RS) were investigated in this study. The chloride contents, hydration products, micromorphology and pore structures of mortars were analyzed. The results showed that there was a diffusion trend for chloride ions from the surface of fine aggregate to cement hydrated products. During the whole curing period, the free chloride content in the mortars made by MS and WMS increased firstly, then decreased and stabilized finally with time. However, the total chloride content of three types of mortar hardly changed. The bound chloride content in the mortars made by MS and WMS slightly increased with time, and the bound chloride content included the MS, the WMS and the RS arranged from high to low. C3A·CaCl2·10H2O (Friedel’s salt) was formed at the early age and existed throughout the curing period. Moreover, the volume of fine capillary pore with a size of 10–100 nm increased in the MS and WMS mortar.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEACHATE AT IHIAGWA DUMPSITE, IMO STATE NIGERIA AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR SURFACE WATER POLLUTION

Open dumpsite is the most common way to eliminate solid urban wastes in this part of the world. An important problem associated to landfills and open dumpsite is the production of leachates. The leachates from these dumpsites have many toxic substances, which may adversely affect the environmental health. Thus in order to have a better management of characteristics of Ihiagwa-Nekede waste dump leachates, representative leachate samples were collected and analyzed for Physico-chemical properties and levels of heavy metals in them. Results indicate pH7.38, temperature 28.30 ℃ - 28.40℃, total dissolved solid 124.01mg/l-125.45mg/l, magnesium hardness 4.40mg/l-7.32mg/l, sulphate 3.60mg/l-3.70mg/l, and nitrate 27.00mg/l-27.60mg/l. Other parameters indicated as follows Conductivity1910𝜇𝑠/𝑐𝑚-1930.00 𝜇𝑠/𝑐𝑚, total chloride 891.72mg/l-891.74mg/l, carbonate 1708.00mg/l-1904.00mg/l, Ammonia 9.39mg/l-9.40mg/l, calcium hardness 373.17mg/l-375.61mg/l, total solid 2423.00mg/l-2454.00mg/l, phosphate 13.52mg/l-13.54mg/l. The heavy metal: cyanide 2.25mg/l-2.33mg/l, zinc 18.08mg/l-18.38mg/l, copper 19.90mg/l20.48mg/l, iron10.67mg/l-10.82mg/l, lead 1.27mg/l-1.41mg/l, and manganese 3.00mg/l-3.61mg/l, all these exceeded the WHO standards. The obtained results showed that the landfill leachates are characterized by high concentrations of heavy metals and other disease causing elements and therefore require urgent treatment to forestall the contamination of groundwater system and the nearby Otamiri River.

Determination of Water Quality Index of Simly Dam, Islamabad by Arithmetic Weighted Method

Water quality is of great importance due to its impact on human health and aquatic systems. Since Islamabadand Rawalpindi get their drinking water from Simly dam, this makes it an important drinking water source. In thisstudy water quality parameters of Simly dam were determined and water quality index (WQI) using Arithmeticweighted method was calculated. Collection of water samples from different locations of dam and the filtration plantinstalled in the facility was done. Twelve physicochemical parameters of water quality including: pH, ElectricalConductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), alkalinity, hardness, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), DissolvedOxygen (DO), Total Chloride, Calcium, Nitrates, Potassium and Sodium (Na) were measured to estimate the sentientand water quality of the Simly dam. WQI of both raw dam water and filtered dam water was determined using WorldHealth Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water. The water quality index of raw dam water was found to be62.79 while that of filtered dam water was 49.43. The WQI of the unfiltered raw dam water was found to be in class Cthat is poor category, while the filtered dam water was falling in Class B that refers to good category according to waterquality index categories. Regular monitoring of water quality is recommended to ensure safe water supply toconsumers.

Improved chloride quantification in quadrupole aerosol chemical speciation monitors (Q-ACSMs)

Particulate chloride is an important component of fine particulate matter in marine air masses. Recent field studies also report elevated concentrations of gas-phase reactive chlorine species and particulate chloride related to anthropogenic activities. This work focuses on particulate chloride detection and quantification issues observed for some quadrupole aerosol chemical speciation monitors (Q-ACSMs) which are designed for the long-term measurement of ambient aerosol composition. The ACSM reports particle concentrations based on the difference between measurements of ambient air (sample mode) and particle-free ambient air (filter mode). For our long-term campaign in Krakow, Poland, the Q-ACSM reports apparent negative total chloride concentration for most of the campaign when analyzed with the default fragmentation table. This is the result of the difference signal from m∕z 35 (35Cl+) being negative, which dominates over the positive difference signal from m∕z 36 (H35Cl+). Highly time-resolved experiments with NH4Cl, NaCl and KCl particles show that the signal response of m∕z 35 is non-ideal when the signal builds up and decreases slowly for all three salts, leading to a negative difference measurement. In contrast, the m∕z 36 signal exhibits a near step-change response for NH4Cl during the sampling and filter period, resulting in a positive difference signal. The response of m∕z 36 for NaCl and KCl is not as prompt as for NH4Cl but still fast enough to have a positive difference signal. Furthermore, it is shown that this behavior is mostly independent of vaporizer temperature. Based on these observations, this work presents an approach to correct the chloride concentration time series by adapting the standard fragmentation table coupled with a calibration of NH4Cl to obtain a relative ionization efficiency (RIE) based on the signal at m∕z 36 (H35Cl+). This correction can be applied to measurements in environments where chloride is dominated by NH4Cl. Caution should be exercised when other chloride salts dominate the ambient particulate chloride.