Monitoring and Characterizing the Whole Process of Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 1
Abstract
Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a promising biomediated soil improvement technique. Compared with traditional ground improvement methods, MICP has proven extensive applicability and ecological benefits. However, heterogeneity during MICP treatment is a major obstacle in engineering applications, causing a strong need for monitoring methods to investigate the process of treatment and optimize the subsequent design scheme. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) is a noninvasive spatially resolved monitoring technique for visualizing the distribution of both treatment solution and precipitated calcium carbonate in MICP treatment. In this study, three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography was employed to monitor the biocementation process of a sand-packed column. The electrical response over different treatment stages and the final content were collected. Three-dimensional resistivity distribution intuitively characterizes the distribution of treatment solution in the sand column. Changes in the resistivity indicate the spatial variability of the urea hydrolysis and precipitation during the MICP treatment. The final resistivity distribution corresponds to the distribution of precipitated , and the relationship between electrical resistivity and content is established. The study serves to explore the potential of ERT as a monitoring method for the MICP treatment process. Of particular interest are its possibilities to contribute to the monitoring of spatial heterogeneity of cementation because of the limitations of traditional techniques in this respect.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41925012, 42230710, and 42007244), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20211087), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 1 • January 2024
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Mar 21, 2023
Accepted: Sep 11, 2023
Published online: Nov 8, 2023
Published in print: Jan 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Apr 8, 2024
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Cited by
- Chao Lv, Chao-Sheng Tang, Jun-Zheng Zhang, Hao Liu, Xiao-Hua Pan, Regulating the Process of Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation through Applied Electric Fields: Evidence and Insights Using Microfluidics, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-12532, 150, 10, (2024).