Experimental Investigation of Microbial Induced Desaturation and Precipitation (MIDP) in a Layered Granular Soil System
Publication: Geo-Congress 2022
ABSTRACT
Microbially induced desaturation and precipitation (MIDP) is being investigated for its potential as a ground improvement method. The MIDP process involves stimulation of native denitrifying microorganisms by injecting a solution containing nitrate, calcium, and a source of dissolved organic carbon. Metabolic conversion of substrates into biogenic gas (nitrogen and carbon dioxide), biominerals (calcium carbonate), and biomass in sufficient quantities can mitigate liquefaction hazards in granular soils. This study aimed to investigate how soil stratification affects the distribution of substrates and metabolic products during and after MIDP treatment. A tank set-up simulating two-dimensional flow conditions was used. Multiple treatment cycles were applied to reach a significant amount of calcium carbonate. Bulk electrical conductivity measurements were used to monitor the distribution and consumption of ionic substrates throughout tank during treatment cycles. Post-treatment carbonate analysis showed that despite the spatially and temporally varying distribution of substrates, calcium carbonate was precipitated in all layers, both at the inlet and outlet, but the distribution was not homogeneous.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
ASTM International. (2014). D4373-14, Standard Test Method for Rapid Determination of Carbonate Content of Soils. ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA.
Karatas, I., Kavazanjian, E., and Rittmann, B. “Microbially induced precipitation of calcite using Pseudomonas denitrificans.” Proc., 1st International Conference on Bio-Geo-Civil Engineering pp 58–66.
He, J., Chu, J., and Ivanov, V. (2013). Mitigation of liquefaction of saturated sand using biogas. Geotechnique, 63(4), 267.
Kavazanjian, E., O’Donnell, S. T., and Hamdan, N. (2015). Biogeotechnical mitigation of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction by denitrification: a two-stage process. In Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Christchurch, New Zealand (pp. 20–28).
Lin, H., Suleiman, M. T., Brown, D. G., and Kavazanjian, E. (2016). “Mechanical Behavior of Sands Treated by Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 142(2), 04015066.
Montoya, B. M., and DeJong, J. T. (2015). “Stress-Strain Behavior of Sands Cemented by Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 141(6), 04015019.
Moug, D., Khosravifar, A., Preciado, M., Sorenson, K., Stokoe, K., Menq, F., Zhang, B., van Paassen, L. A., Kavazanjian, E., Stallings Young, E. G., and Wang, Y. “Field Evaluation of Microbially Induced Desaturation for Liquefaction Mitigation of Silty Soils.” Proc., The 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering.
O’Donnell, S. T., Kavazanjian, E., and Rittmann, B. E. (2017b). “MIDP: Liquefaction Mitigation via Microbial Denitrification as a Two-Stage Process. II: MICP.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(12).
O’Donnell, S. T., Rittmann, B. E., and Kavazanjian, E. (2017a). “MIDP: Liquefaction Mitigation via Microbial Denitrification as a Two-Stage Process. I: Desaturation.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(12).
O’Donnell, S. T., Hall, C. A., Kavazanjian, E., and Rittmann, B. E. (2019). “Biogeochemical Model for Soil Improvement by Denitrification.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 145(11), 04019091.
O’Donnell, S. T., Rittmann, B. E., and Kavazanjian, E. (2019). “Factors Controlling Microbially Induced Desaturation and Precipitation (MIDP) via Denitrification during Continuous Flow.” Geomicrobiology Journal, 36(6), 543–558.
Pham, V. P., Nakano, A., van der Star Wouter, R. L., Heimovaara, T. J., and van Paassen, L. A. (2016). “Applying MICP by denitrification in soils: a process analysis.” Environmental Geotechnics, 5(2), 1–15.
Pham, V. P., van Paassen, L. A., Star, W. R. L. V. D., and Heimovaara, T. J. (2018). “Evaluating Strategies to Improve Process Efficiency of Denitrification-Based MICP.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144(8).
Rebata-Landa, V., and Santamarina, J. C. (2012). Mechanical effects of biogenic nitrogen gas bubbles in soils. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 138(2), 128–137.
Stallings Young, E. G. (2021). Fluid Flow through Granular Soils Treated with Microbial Induced Desaturation and Precipitation. Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation, Arizona State University, ProQuest.
Stallings Young, E. G., Mahabadi, N., Zapata, C. E., and Paassen, L. A. V. (2021). “Microbial-Induced Desaturation in Stratified Soil Conditions.” International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering, 7(37), 1–17.
Stallings Young, E. G., Zapata, C. E., and Paassen, L. V. “Unsaturated Fluid Flow through Granular Soils Treated with Microbial Induced Desaturation and Precipitation.” Proc., The 4th European Conference on Unsaturated Soils: Unsaturated Horizons.
Van Paassen, L. A., Daza, C. M., Staal, M., Sorokin, D. Y., van der Zon, W., and van Loosdrecht, M. C. (2010). Potential soil reinforcement by biological denitrification. Ecological Engineering, 36(2), 168–175.
Van Paassen, L. A., Pham, V., Mahabadi, N., Hall, C., Stallings, E. G., and Edward Kavazanjian, J. (2017). “Desaturation via Biogenic Gas Formation as a Ground Improvement Technique.” PanAm Unsaturated Soils 2017.
Van Paassen, L. A., Pham, V., Mahabadi, N., Hall, C., Stallings, E. G., and Kavazanjian, E. (2017). “Biogenic gas formation as ground improvement technique.” PanAm-UNSAT 2017: Second Pan-American Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Unsaturated Soil Mechanics for Sustainable Geotechnics, Dallas, TX.
Van Wijngaarden, W. K., Van Paassen, L. A., Vermolen, F. J., Van Meurs, G. A. M., and Vuik, C. (2016). Simulation of front instabilities in density-driven flow, using a reactive transport model for biogrout combined with a randomly distributed permeability field. Transport in Porous Media, 112(2), 333–359.
Wang, L., van Paassen, L. A., and Kavazanjian, E. (2020a). “Feasibility Study on Liquefaction Mitigation of Fraser River Sediments by Microbial Induced Desaturation and Precipitation (MIDP).” Proc., Geo-Congress 2020: Biogeotechnics, American Society of Civil Engineers, 121–131.
Wang, L., Van Paassen, L., Gao, Y., He, J., Gao, Y., and Kim, D. (2020b). Laboratory tests on mitigation of soil liquefaction using microbial induced desaturation and precipitation. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 44(2).
Wang, L., Gao, Y., He, J., Gao, Y., and van Paassen, L. A. (2021). Effect of Biogenic Gas Formation through Microbial Induced Desaturation and Precipitation on the Static Response of Sands with Varied Relative Density. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 147(8), 04021071.
Zeng, C., Veenis, Y., Hall, C. A., Young, E. S., van der Star, W. R., Zheng, J. J., and van Paassen, L. A. (2021). Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a Field Trial Application of Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation for Ground Stabilization. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 147(7), 05021003.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2022
Pages: 347 - 355
History
Published online: Mar 17, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Michael T. Stals, Gustav Andrag, Bas Vos, Leon A. van Paassen, Improving the Effectivity of Dynamic Compaction Methods in Silty Sands through Microbial Induced Desaturation (MID), Geo-Congress 2023, 10.1061/9780784484661.042, (402-410), (2023).