Effect of Fines Content on Calcium Carbonate Precipitation and Thermal Properties of Biocemented Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 7
Abstract
In this study, the impacts to soil thermal properties during and after biocementation via microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) method on silty silica sand specimens with varying fines content (0%, 5%, and 15%) were investigated. Firstly, calcium conversion was measured after each pulse; then, the MICP-treated specimens were tested for cementation uniformity. The evolution of thermal conductivity of silty soils with the MICP treatment was assessed using a thermocouple probe. The results show that thermal conductivity of silty saturated sands increased by 17% for specimens treated to 9.7% . The improvement in thermal conductivity was attributed to the formation of calcium carbonate bridges binding the soil grains together. The results suggested that the thermal conductivity of silty soil depends on water content, the number of treatment pulses, and the treatment uniformity through the soil specimen. Presence of fines content in the soil was found to play an important role in the distribution and uniformity of biocementation through the soil specimen. However, no statistically significant difference in the thermal conductivity values of MICP-treated specimens with different fines content was observed (). The average calcium carbonate content ranged between 10.7% and 7.2% for the soils with 0% and 15% fines content, respectively. The findings of this research could be used to improve the efficiency of geothermal boreholes and other energy geostructures using MICP by improving thermal conductivity of dry and partially saturated soil.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work partially supported by the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). Any opinions or conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of MDT. The authors appreciate the assistance of the staff of the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE) at MSU.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 7 • July 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 12, 2023
Accepted: Jan 17, 2024
Published online: Apr 22, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Sep 22, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- [Inorganic compounds]
- Calcium carbonate
- Cement
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Concrete
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Environmental engineering
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Materials engineering
- Organic compounds
- Pollution
- Saturated soils
- Silt
- Soft soils
- Soil mechanics
- Soil pollution
- Soil properties
- Soil treatment
- Soils (by type)
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
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