Performance of magnesia cements in porous blocks in acid and magnesium environments

The performance of porous blocks containing three different reactive magnesia-based cements – namely magnesia alone, magnesium oxide:Portland cement (PC) in 1:1 ratio, cured in ambient conditions, and magnesia alone, cured at elevated carbon dioxide conditions, in hydrochloric acid and magnesium sulfate solution – was investigated. Different aggressive chemical solution conditions were used, to which the samples were exposed for up to 12 months and then tested for strength and microstructure. The performance was also compared with that of standard PC-based blocks. The results showed the significant resistance to chemical attack offered by magnesia, both alone and with PC blend in the porous blocks when cured under ambient carbon dioxide conditions, and confirmed the much poorer performance of blocks made from PC alone. The blocks of solely magnesia cured in elevated carbon dioxide conditions, at 20% concentration, showed slightly lower resistance to acid attack than PC; however, the resistance to sulfate attack was much higher.