274 The Philippine Journal of Science isie 



concrete is at present under way. There seems to have been 

 little research done along these lines, except in studying the 

 effect of various amounts of gypsum used in the manufacture 

 of cement, especially M^here the concrete is subjected to the action 

 of sea w^ater. Many of the papers appearing in current journals 

 are accounts of failures of concrete rather than the results of 

 constructive research. 



The general subject of the effect of sulphur compounds on 

 concrete may be subdivided as follow^s : 



1. The effect of sulphur compounds present in concrete v^^hich 

 is exposed to normal conditions. 



Borrowman ® is of the opinion that sulphides and sulphates 

 in cinders are sometimes largely responsible for failures of cinder 

 concrete. 



2. The effect of sulphur compounds present in concrete which 

 is exposed to abnormal conditions, such as contact with sea 

 water. 



In some countries the idea is prevalent that a higher per- 

 centage of sulphuric anhydride is permissible in a cement used 

 for ordinary construction than in one used for construction which 

 is exposed to sea water. For example, France,^ Japan,^ and 

 Argentina « have two specifications for sulphuric anhydride — 

 a lower one for sea-water construction, and a higher one for 

 ordinary construction. 



3. The effect of sulphur compounds in liquids or gases which 

 come into contact with concrete. 



Rohland ^° reports the failure of a smokestack constructed of 

 reenforced concrete, lined with bricks. The mortar between the 

 bricks was made with a cement which was supposed to be acid- 

 resisting. Sulphur compounds in the flue gases are blamed for 

 the failure. The same writer ^^ cites a case in which gases con- 

 taining sulphur compounds had an injurious effect on the concrete 

 in a tunnel. Sulphates in soil caused the failure of a concrete 

 flower pot, according to Sartori,^^ and hydrogen sulphide in the 

 waste water from a brewery caused considerable damage to 

 a concrete sewer pipe." 



° Loc. cit. 



' Ciment (1912), 17, 213. 



'Mitt. Zentralstell. Ford. Deut. Port. Zem. Ind. (1912), 1, 167. 



'Ibid. (1912), 1, 305. 



"Rohland, P., Feuerungstechnic (1914), 2, 360. 



^"■Betonu. Eisen (1914), 13, 341. 



"Sartori, A., Chem. Zeitg. (1915), 39, 957. 



"Heyer, ibid. (1916), 40, 102. 



