Biocalcification of Sand through Ureolysis
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 12
Abstract
Biological processes may provide great and previously unexplored opportunities for cost-effective, in situ improvement of the engineering properties of soil. A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the changes in geomechanical properties of sand attributable to the formation of calcium precipitates induced through ureolysis catalyzed by Sporosarcina pasteurii (S. pasteurii). Specifically, direct shear and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were conducted on sand specimens subjected to treatment by growing, resting, and dead S. pasteurii cells in completely stirred tank reactors and completely mixed biofilm reactors, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy analyses were also conducted to evaluate microbially induced precipitation. The results of the study show that the bacterial cells effectively improved the geomechanical properties of the sand. Growing cells improved the sand properties owing to microbially induced precipitation and related pore volume changes, whereas dead and resting cells generally caused smaller increases in friction angle and bearing strength. Analysis of the sand from CBR specimens treated with growing cells demonstrated that the microbial and chemical processes both contributed to the clogging of the porous medium.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. NSFCMS-05-28171. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science FoundationNSF. The writers acknowledge Professor Sookie S. Bang (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, USA) for providing the original Sporosarcina pasteurii strain 11859 culture used in these experiments.
References
Abd-El-Malek, Y., and Rizk, S. G. (1963). “Bacterial sulphate reduction and the development of alkalinity. II. Laboratory experiments with soils.” J. Appl. Bacteriol., 26(1), 14–19.
Abdelouas, A., Lu, Y. M., Lutze, W., and Nuttall, H. E. (1998). “Reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) by indigenous bacteria in contaminated ground water.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 35(1–3), 217–233.
Abdulla, W. A. (1995). “Centrifuge modeling of sinkhole development in weakly cemented sand.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Aloisi, G., Gloter, A., Kroger, M., Wallmann, K., Guyot, F., and Zuddas, P. (2006). “Nucleation of calcium carbonate on bacterial nanoglobules.” Geology : J. Association of Teachers of Geol., 34(12), 1017–1020.
American Public Health Association (APHA), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and Water Environment Federation (WEF). (1995). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. 19th Ed., Washington, DC.
Ashford, S. A., Weaver, T. J., and Rollins, K. M. (2002). “Pore pressure response of liquefied sand in full-scale lateral pile load tests.” Transportation Research Record 1808, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 21–29.
ASTM. (2005). “Standard test method for direct shear test of soils under consolidated drained conditions.” D3080, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bang, S. S., Galinat, J. K., and Ramakrishnan, V. (2001). “Calcite precipitation induced by polyurethane-immobilized Bacillus pasteurii.” Enzyme and microbial technology, 28(4–5), 404–409.
Bardet, J. P. (1997). Experimental soil mechanics, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Beveridge, T. J., Makin, S. A., Kadurugamuwa, J. L., and Li, Z. S. (1997). “Interactions between biofilms and the environment.” FEMS Microbiol. Rev., 20(3–4), 291–303.
Braissant, O., Decho, A. W., Dupraz, C., Glunk, C., Przekop, K. M., and Visscher, P. T. (2007). “Exopolymeric substances of sulfate-reducing bacteria: Interactions with calcium at alkaline pH and implication for formation of carbonate minerals.” Geobiology, 5(4), 401–411.
Buczynski, C., and Chafetz, H. S. (1991). “Habit of bacterially induced precipitates of calcium-carbonate and the influence of medium viscosity on mineralogy.” J. Sediment. Res., 61(2), 226–233.
Castanier, S., Le Metayer-Levrel, G., and Perthulsot, J. P. (1999). “Ca-carbonates precipitation and limestone genesis: The microbiogeologist point of view.” Sediment. Geol., 126(1–4), 9–23.
Chang, T. S., and Woods, R. D. (1992). “Effect of particle contact bond on shear modulus.” J. Geotech. Eng., 118(8), 1216–1233.
Chou, C.-W. (2008). “Biomodification of geotechnical properties of sand.” M.S. thesis, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Chou, C.-W., Seagren, E. A., Aydilek, A. H., and Maugel, T. K. (2008). “Bacterially-induced calcite preciptation via ureolysis.” ASM MicrobeLibrary, Visual Resource Collection, American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC 〈http://www.microbelibrary.org/〉.
Clough, G. W., Sitar, N., Bachus, R. C., and Rad, N. S. (1981). “Cemented sands under static loading.” J. Geotech. Engrg. Div., 107(6), 799–817.
Cooke, A. J., and Rowe, R. K. (1999). “Extension of porosity and surface area models for uniform porous media.” J. Environ. Eng., 125(2), 126–136.
Day, J. L., Ramakrishnan, V., and Bang, S. S. (2003). “Microbiologically induced sealant for concrete crack remediation.” Proc., 16th Engineering Mechanics Conf., ASCE, Reston, VA.
Defarge, C., Trichet, J., Jaunet, A. M., Robert, M., Tribble, J., and Sansone, F. J. (1996). “Texture of microbial sediments revealed by cryo-scanning electron microscopy.” J. Sediment. Res., 66(5), 935–947.
DeJong, J. T., Fritzges, M. B., and Nusslein, K. (2006). “Microbially induced cementation to control sand response to undrained shear.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 132(11), 1381–1392.
DeJong, J. T., Mortensen, B. M., Martinez, B. C., and Nelson, D. C. (2010). “Biomediated soil improvement.” Ecol. Eng., 36(2), 197–210.
Ehrlich, H. L. (2002). Geomicrobiology, Marcel Dekker, New York.
Ercole, C., Cacchio, P., Botta, A. L., Centi, V., and Lepidi, A. (2007). “Bacterially induced mineralization of calcium carbonate: The role of exopolysaccharides and capsular polysaccharides.” Microsc. Microanal., 13(1), 42–50.
FEMA. (2005). Coastal construction manual: Principles and practices of planning, siting, designing, constructing, and maintaining residential buildings in coastal areas, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, DC.
Ferris, F. G., Phoenix, V., Fujita, Y., and Smith, R. W. (2004). “Kinetics of calcite precipitation induced by ureolytic bacteria at 10 to 20 degrees C in artificial groundwater.” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 68(8), 1701–1710.
Fujita, Y., Ferris, E. G., Lawson, R. D., Colwell, F. S., and Smith, R. W. (2000). “Calcium carbonate precipitation by ureolytic subsurface bacteria.” Geomicrobiol. J., 17(4), 305–318.
Gollapudi, U., Knutson, C., Bang, S. S., and Islam, M. (1995). “A new method for controlling leaching through permeable channels.” Chemosphere, 30(4), 695–705.
Greenfield, L. J. (1963). “Metabolism and concentration of calcium and magnesium and precipitation of calcium carbonate by a marine bacterium.” Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 109(1), 23–45.
Jung, D., Biggs, H., Erikson, J., and Ledyard, P. U. (1975). “New colorimetric reaction for endpoint, continuous-flow, and kinetic measurement of urea.” Clin. Chem., 21(8), 1136–1140.
Karatas, I., Kavazanjian, E. Jr., and Rittman, B. E. (2008). “Microbially induced precipitation of calcite using Pseudomonas denitrificans.” 1st Int. Conf. on BioGeo Civil Engineering, Deltares and Delft Univ. of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
Khan, Z., Majid, A., Cascante, G., Hutchinson, D. J., and Pezeshkpour, P. (2006). “Characterization of a cemented sand with the pulse-velocity method.” Can. Geotech. J., 43(3), 294–309.
Krumbein, W. C. (1941). “Measurement and geological significance of shape and roundness of sedimentary particles.” J. Sediment. Res., 11(2), 64–72.
Lee, K. C., and Rittmann, B. E. (2003). “Effects of pH and precipitation on autohydrogenotrophic denitrification using the hollow-fiber membrane-biofilm reactor.” Water Res., 37(7), 1551–1556.
Mitchell, A. C., and Ferris, F. G. (2006). “The influence of Bacillus pasteurii on the nucleation and growth of calcium carbonate.” Geomicrobiol. J., 23(3–4), 213–226.
Monger, H. C., Daugherty, L. A., Lindemann, W. C., and Liddell, C. M. (1991). “Microbial precipitation of pedogenic calcite.” Geology, 19(10), 997–1000.
National Research Council (NRC). (2006). Geological and geotechnical engineering in the new millennium, National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Ramachandran, S. K., Ramakrishnan, V., and Bang, S. S. (2001). “Remediation of concrete using microorganisms.” ACI Mater. J., 98(1), 3–9.
Rittmann, B. E., Banaszak, J. E., Cooke, A., and Rowe, R. K. (2003). “Biogeochemical evaluation of mechanisms controlling precipitation in landfill leachate-collection systems.” J. Environ. Eng., 129(8), 723–730.
Roberts, W. L., Campbell, T. J., and Rapp, G. R. Jr. (1990). Encyclopedia of minerals, 2nd Ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Rodriguez-Navarro, C., Rodriguez-Gallego, M., Ben Chekroun, K., and Gonzalez-Munoz, T. (2003). “Conservation of ornamental stone by Myxococcus xanthus-induced carbonate biomineralization.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 69(4), 2182–2193.
Ross, N., Villemur, R., Deschênes, L., and Samson, R. (2001). “Clogging of limestone fracture by stimulating groundwater microbe.” Water Res., 35(8), 2029–2037.
Rowe, R. K., VanGulck, J. F., and Millward, S. C. (2002). “Biologically induced clogging of a granular medium permeated with synthetic leachate.” J. Environ. Eng. Sci., 1(2), 135–156.
Russell, R. D., and Taylor, R. E. (1937). “Roundness and shape of Mississippi River sands.” J. Geol., 45(3), 225–267.
Sawyer, C., McCarty, P. L., and Parkin, G. (2003). Chemistry for environmental engineering and science, McGraw-Hill, Boston.
Schultze-Lam, S., Fortin, D., Davis, B. S., and Beveridge, T. J. (1996). “Mineralization of bacterial surfaces.” Chem. Geol., 132(1–4), 171–181.
Seagren, E. A., and Aydilek, A. H. (2010). “Biomediated geomechanical processes.” Chapter 24, Environmental microbiology, 2nd Ed., R. Mitchell, and J.-D. Gu, eds., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 319–348.
Seagren, E. A., Rittmann, B. E., and Valocchi, A. J. (2002). “Bioenhancement of NAPL pool dissolution: Experimental evaluation.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 55(1–2), 57–85.
Smith, W. O., Foote, P. D., and Busang, P. F. (1929). “Packing of homogeneous spheres.” Phys. Rev., 34(9), 1271–1274.
Stocks-Fischer, S., Galinat, J. K., and Bang, S. S. (1999). “Microbiological precipitation of .” Soil Biol. Biochem., 31(11), 1563–1571.
Thompson, J. B., and Ferris, F. G. (1990). “Cyanobacterial precipitation of gypsum, calcite, and magnesite from natural alkaline lake water.” Geology, 18(10), 995–998.
Urzi, C., Garcia-Valles, M., Vendrell, M., and Pernice, A. (1999). “Biomineralization processes on rock and monument surfaces observed in field and in laboratory conditions.” Geomicrobiol. J., 16(1), 39–54.
Van Lith, Y., Warthmann, R., Vasconcelos, C., and McKenzie, J. A. (2003). “Microbial fossilization in carbonate sediments: A result of the bacterial surface involvement in dolomite precipitation.” Sedimentology, 50(2), 237–245.
VanGulck, J. F., and Rowe, R. K. (2004a). “Evolution of clog formation with time in columns permeated with synthetic landfill leachate.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 75(1–2), 115–139.
VanGulck, J. F., and Rowe, R. K. (2004b). “Influence of landfill leachate suspended solids on clog (biorock) formation.” Waste Manage., 24(7), 723–738.
VanGulck, J. F., and Rowe, R. K. (2008). “Parameter estimation for modelling clogging of granular medium permeated with leachate.” Can. Geotech. J., 45(6), 812–823.
VanGulck, J. F., Rowe, R. K., Rittmann, B. E., and Cooke, A. J. (2003). “Predicting biogeochemical calcium precipitation in landfill leachate collection systems.” Biodegradation, 14(5), 331–346.
Whiffin, V. S., van Paassen, L. A., and Harkes, M. P. (2007). “Microbial carbonate precipitation as a soil improvement technique.” Geomicrobiol. J., 24(5), 417–423.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 12 • December 2011
Pages: 1179 - 1189
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 10, 2009
Accepted: Mar 10, 2011
Published online: Mar 12, 2011
Published in print: Dec 1, 2011
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.