Sulphur is one of the most widely used chemical elements inthe industrialized world.  In the petrochemical industry, sulphur is considered to be a waste product and needs to be recycled.

There has been no optimal solution for the recycling of sulphur for a long period of time. But, in the 1970s in the USA and later in the former USSR, industry began using sulphur as a binding agent while producing concrete.

The advantages of the “Sulphur Concrete” are as follows:

(1) Expensive portland cement may be substituted with cheap waste sulphur;

(2) The waste products of mineral additives may be substituted for materials with the specified fractional composition; and

(3) The expensive polymer additives may be replaced by polymer-modified sulphur.

As we can see, three expensive components can be easily replaced by cheap ones.  But, why hasn’t sulphur concrete gained a widespread acceptance in the construction industry?  It is due to such reasons as:

1. The amount of polymeric sulphur in sulphur concrete is decreasing as the years go by;
2. The polymeric sulphur may take a monoclinic form therefore, chemical stabilization is needed; and
3. Sulphur concrete is not as heat-resistant since the fusion temperature of sulphur is 120ºС/248ºF.  Therefore, some thermal stabilizers are required.

Biophil Sulfur Characteristics

If there is moisture in the mixture, some types of bacteria can eat sulfur as if it were sugar.  Microbiological corrosion inhibitors are necessary to exclude such  phenomena.  Sulfur is a low-toxicity substance, but it can be sublimated even while being solid.  Sulphur concrete therefore, must contain a special insulation layer.  The above listed disadvantages affect the cost of sulfur concrete and reduce to zero all the economic benefits as described above.

It is therefore, very relevant to start using waste products or cheap components instead of inhibitors and stabilizers without involving expensive chemical equipment.

GlоbeCоre offers AVS ‘Vortex Layer’ units to companes involved in construction material manufacturing and building companies.

The AVS ‘Vortex layer’ units allow for processing such substances as:

(1) Heavy fuel oil.  Being processed in the vortex layer units, heavy fuel oil is considered to be a good stabilizer for polymeric sulphur;

(2) Metal-based wastes, that subsequently act as thermal stabilizers of solid sulphur;

(3) Halogenated wastes.  They serve as microbiological corrosion inhibitors;

(4) Sand (serve as antipyrogen); and

(5) waste oils.

Being a part of sulphur concrete, waste oil improves its insulation characteristics.  The molecules of sulphur are strengthened if liquid sulphur is processed together with heavy fuel oil in the ‘Vortex Layer’ units.   As a result, there is the poly sulphur binding substance based on copolymer sulphur.  The reactive surface resulted from the sand being grinded down and reacting to poly sulphur binding substances thereby increasing the durability of the product.

The sulphur concrete is saturated with sulfides and polysulfides as a result of grinding the mineral components based on metal oxides.

The waste oil processing in the ‘Vortex layer’ units results in drying oil used to cover the surface of the sulfur concrete products.