Experimental Analysis of Soil Stabilizers Used for Contamination Control at Hanford's Burial Grounds

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of commercially available fixatives and their effect on soil mounds when exposed to a range of wind forces. During wind tunnel experiments, 224-gram soil samples (mounds) with varying percent moisture were sprayed with fixatives and exposed to wind forces ranging from 10 to 30 miles per hour. The objectives of this experiment were to calculate the amount of soil loss due to wind forces, quantify the percentage soil moisture loss during wind exposure, and measure the amount of airborne particulates generated during the process. The main results from this study showed that increased in percent moisture in the soil will have a substantial effect on airborne generation and the movement/displacement of the soil particles. As percent moisture increases there is a reduction in the amount of soil loss and the amount of airborne particulates generated. For example, for a same velocity profile (25 mph), there is an average mass loss of 157.5 grams when soil moisture is 2.7% by weight. When the moisture content of the soil is almost doubled to 5%, the amount of mass loss is decreased to 111.0 grams. This is a 29.5% reduction in mass loss due to an almost a 100% increase in soil moisture. If the moisture content in the soil is increased even further to 10%, the average amount of soil loss is only 1.32 grams. This represents a 94% reduction in mass loss due to an almost a 400% increase in soil moisture. This trend is seen for all velocity ranges tested. In addition, it was shown that the use of fixatives greatly minimized the soil movement/displacement and airborne particulates generation. For example, at a freestream velocity of 25 mph, there is an average 99.0% reduction in the amount of soil loss when the soil is pre-treated with minimum concentration/dilution ratios of fixatives when compared to untreated soil with 2.7% moisture.