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International Journal of Environment Science and Technology
Center for Environment and Energy Research and Studies (CEERS)
ISSN: 1735-1472 EISSN: 1735-1472
Vol. 13, No. 3, 2016, pp. 937-944
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Bioline Code: st16089
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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International Journal of Environment Science and Technology, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2016, pp. 937-944
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Performance of microbial-induced carbonate precipitation on wind erosion control of sandy soil
Maleki, M.; Ebrahimi, S.; Asadzadeh, F. & Emami Tabrizi, M.
Abstract
Wind erosion is a serious problem throughout
the world which results in soil and environment degradation
and air pollution. The main objective of this study was
to evaluate feasibility of microbial-induced carbonate
precipitation, as a novel soil-strengthening technique, to
reduce wind erosion risk of a sandy soil. For this purpose,
the erosion of biocemented soil samples was investigated
experimentally in a wind tunnel under the condition of
wind velocity of 45 km h-1. The weight loss of treated
samples relative to the weight loss of control treatment was
1.29 and 0.16 % for low and high bacterial mix concentrations,
respectively, indicating a significant improvement
in erosion control in biologically treated samples. The
effect of biological treatment on wind erosion control was
even superior at the higher velocities. Thereafter, the
penetration resistance of the surface layers as a simple
index of resistance against wind erosion was measured.
Significant improvements in the penetration resistance of
the treated soil samples were observed. Although low
bacterial mix concentrations did not significantly improve
the penetration resistance of the samples, significant
improvements in the penetration resistance of the treated
soil samples were observed reaching to the highest measured
strength (56 kPa) in high bacterial mix concentrations
samples. Finally, the morphology of precipitated
CaCO3 crystals using scanning electron microscopy and
X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that the CaCO3
was mainly precipitated as vaterite crystals forming pointto-
point contacts between the sand granules.
Keywords
Biocement; Microbial-induced carbonate precipitation; Soil treatment; Wind erosion control; Urease
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