Abstract
The strength of sandy soil can be improved via enzyme-induced calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation (EICP). This method is a sustainable and environmentally friendly soil improvement technique that forms calcium carbonate between and around the soil particles. The formation of CaCO3 is achieved through the hydrolysis of urea that is catalyzed by free enzyme urease. This paper is divided into two parts. The first part explains the test-tube tests that were conducted to determine the amount and efficiency of CaCO3 precipitation at different concentrations of the cementation reagent (CCR). The second part describes the effects of multiple treatment cycles on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of EICP-treated soil. The soil samples were mixed with the EICP solution and compacted into PVC moulds. It was then followed by cycles of treatment with the EICP solution via surface percolation. The effectiveness of the bio-cementation was determined through a series of UCS tests. The results revealed that the UCS increased with higher CCR and more treatment cycles. The increase in UCS was also attributed to higher amounts of CaCO3 precipitated within the soil matrix. The highest UCS value of 1712 kPa was obtained at 1 M after the 3rd cycle of treatment with 8.21% CaCO3content. In conclusion, a higher number of treatment cycles demonstrated that increased deposition of CaCO3 precipitates increases the bonding effects and strength of the treated soil. Successful use of EICP in soil improvement will help in reducing sustainability concerns related to the production of conventional stabilizers such as cement.
Graphic abstract
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- EICP:
-
Enzyme-induced calcite precipitation
- CCR:
-
Concentration of cementation reagent
- UCS:
-
Unconfined compressive strength
- SEM:
-
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
- EDX:
-
Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
- CaCO3 :
-
Calcium carbonate
References
Al Qabany A, Soga K (2013) Effect of chemical treatment used in MICP on engineering properties of cemented soils. Géotechnique 63:331–339. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.SIP13.P.022
Almajed A, Hamed KT, Edward KJ (2018) Baseline investigation on enzyme-induced calcium carbonate precipitation. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 144:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001973
Almajed A, Tirkolaei HK, Edward KJ, Hamdan N (2019) Enzyme induced biocementated sand with high strength at low carbonate content. Sci Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-38361-1
Badiee H, Saberian M, Tabandeh F, Saaeedi Javadi A (2019) Application of an indigenous bacterium in comparison with Sporosarcina pasteurii for improvement of fine granular soil. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16:8389–8400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02292-9
Carmona JPSF, Oliveira PJV (2017) Improvement of a sandy soil by enzymatic calcium carbonate precipitation. Geotech Enginering 171:3–15
Castanier S, Le Metayer-Levrel G, Perthuisot J-P (2000) Bacterial roles in the precipitation of carbonate minerals. In: Microbial sediments, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Springer, pp 32–39
Chandra A, Karangat R (2019) Effect of magnesium incorporation in Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP) to improve shear strength of soil Effect of magnesium incorporation in Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP) to improve shear strength of soil
Chandra A, Ravi K (2018) Application of enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) to improve the shear strength of different type of soils. In: Indian geotechnical conference, pp 1–8
Cheng L, Shahin MA, Cord-ruwisch R (2017) Surface percolation for soil improvement by biocementation utilizing In Situ enriched Indigenous aerobic and anaerobic ureolytic soil microorganisms. Geomicrobiol J 34:546–556
Cuccurullo A, Gallipoli D, Bruno AW, et al (2019) Advances in the enzymatic stabilisation of soils Avancées dans la stabilisation enzymatique des sols. In: XVII ECSMGE-2019 Geotechnical Engineering foundation of the future, pp 1–8
DeJong JT, Mortensen BM, Martinez BC, Nelson DC (2010) Bio-mediated soil improvement. Ecol Eng 36:197–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2008.12.029
Dilrukshi RAN, Kawasaki S (2019) Effect of Plant-Derived Urease-Induced Carbonate Formation on the Strength Enhancement of Sandy Soil. In: Ecological Wisdom inspired restoration engineering, Springer Singapore, pp 93–108
El-hefnawy ME, Sakran M, Ismail AI, Aboelfetoh EF (2014) Extraction, purification, kinetic and thermodynamic properties of urease from germinating Pisum Sativum L. seeds. BMC Biochem 15:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2091-15-15
Fan J, Wang D, Qian D (2018) Soil-cement mixture properties and design considerations for reinforced excavation. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 10:791–797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2018.03.004
Gat D, Ronen Z, Tsesarsky M (2017) Long-term sustainability of microbial-induced CaCO3 precipitation in aqueous media. Chemosphere 184:524–531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.06.015
Harkes MP, Van Paassen LA, Booster JL et al (2010) Fixation and distribution of bacterial activity in sand to induce carbonate precipitation for ground reinforcement. Ecol Eng J 36:112–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2009.01.004
Isaac A, Md. Mizanur R, Karim MR, Peter R T (2020) Optimization of enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) as a ground improvement technique. In: Geo-congress 2020 GSP 315, pp 552–561
Jalilvand N, Akhgar A, Alikhani HA et al (2019) Removal of heavy metals zinc, lead, and cadmium by biomineralization of urease-producing bacteria isolated from iranian mine calcareous soils. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 20:206–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-019-00121-z
Jiang N-J, Tang C-S, Yin L-Y et al (2019) Applicability of microbial calcification method for sandy-slope surface erosion control. J Mater Civ Eng 31:04019250. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)mt.1943-5533.0002897
Kavazanjian E, Hamdan N (2015) Enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (eicp) columns for ground improvement. In: IFCEE 2015-geotechnical special publication, pp 2252–2261
Kawasaki S, Akiyama M (2013) Enhancement of unconfined compressive strength of sand test pieces cemented with calcium phosphate compound by addition of various powders. Soils Found 53:966–976. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2013.10.013
Kim J-HH, Lee Y-J, Lee JY, Lee Y-J (2018) An optimum condition of MICP indigenous bacteria with contaminated wastes of heavy metal. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 21:239–247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-018-0779-5
Krajewska B (2018) Urease-aided calcium carbonate mineralization for engineering applications: a review. J Adv Res 13:59–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2017.10.009
Liu S, Wang R, Yu J et al (2020a) Effectiveness of the anti-erosion of an MICP coating on the surfaces of ancient clay roof tiles Effectiveness of the anti-erosion of an MICP coating on the surfaces of ancient clay roof tiles. Constr Build Mater 243:118202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118202
Liu S, Yu J, Peng X et al (2020b) Preliminary study on repairing tabia cracks by using microbially induced carbonate precipitation. Constr Build Mater 248:118611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118611
Mahawish A, Bouazza A, Gates WP (2018) Improvement of coarse sand engineering properties by microbially induced calcite precipitation. Geomicrobiol J 35:887–897. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2018.1488019
MEEI (2014) Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy-handbook of analytical methods for materials. Mater Eval Eng Inc, Plymouth, pp 17–18
Mohammad S, Zomorodian A, Gha H, Kelly BCO (2019) Stabilisation of crustal sand layer using biocementation technique for wind erosion control. 40:34–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeolia.2019.06.001
Moosazadeh R, Kalantary FTF, Fallah NGH, Lotfabad TB (2019) Mitigation of the liquefaction potential of soil by Ca-carbonate precipitation induced by indigenous urease-producing Staphylococcus. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16:3657–3666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1788-6
Mortensen BM, Haber MJ, Dejong JT et al (2011) Effects of environmental factors on microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation. J Appl Microbiol 111:338–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2011.05065.x
Muhammed AS, Kassim KA, Uba ZM (2018) Review on biological process of soil improvement in the mitigation of liquefaction in sandy soil. In: Haryati Y, Nor Zurairahetty MY, Izni Syahrizal I (eds) The 12th international civil engineering post graduate conference (SEPKA)-the 3rd international symposium on expertise of engineering design (3rd ISEED) (SEPKA-ISEED 18, p 01017
Muhammed AS, Zango MU, Kassim KA, et al (2019) Effects of cementation reagent on the precipitation of calcium carbonate induced by Bacillus Megaterium. In: IOP conference series: materials science and engineering, pp 1–6
Mujah D, Shahin MA, Cheng L (2017) State-of-the-art review of biocementation by microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) for soil stabilization. Geomicrobiol J 34:524–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2016.1225866
Naeimi M, Chu J (2017) Comparison of conventional and bio-treated methods as dust suppressants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:23341–23350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9889-1
Nam I, Chon C, Jung K, Choi S (2015) Calcite precipitation by ureolytic plant (Canavalia ensiformis) extracts as effective biomaterials. KSCE J Civ Eng 19:1620–1625. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-014-0558-3
Nemati M, Voordouw G (2003) Modification of porous media permeability, using calcium carbonate produced enzymatically in situ. Enzyme Microb Technol 33:635–642. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-0229(03)00191-1
Neupane D, Yasuhara H, Kinoshita N, Unno T (2013) Applicability of enzymatic calcium carbonate precipitation as a soil-strengthening technique. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139:2201–2212. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000959
Okwadha GDO, Li J (2010) Optimum conditions for microbial carbonate precipitation. Chemosphere 81:1143–1148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.09.066
Oliveira PJV, Freitas LD, Carmona JPSF (2017) Effect of soil type on the enzymatic calcium carbonate precipitation process used for soil improvement. J Mater Civ Eng 29:1–7. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001804
Omoregie AI, Ginjom RH, Nissom PM (2018) Microbially induced carbonate precipitation via ureolysis process: a mini-review. Trans Sci Technol 5:245–256
Omoregie AI, Palombo EA, Ong DELL, Nissom PM (2019) Biocementation of sand by Sporosarcina pasteurii strain and technical-grade cementation reagents through surface percolation treatment method. Constr Build Mater 228:116828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116828
Park SS, Choi SG, Nam IH (2014) Effect of plant-induced calcite precipitation on the strength of sand. J Mater Civ Eng 26:1–5. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001029
Putra H, Yasuhara H, Kinoshita N (2017) Optimum condition for the application of enzyme-mediated calcite precipitation technique as soil improvement method. Int J Adv Sci Eng Inf Technol 7:2145–2151
Rohy H, Arab M, Zeiada W et al (2019) One phase soil bio-cementation with EICP-soil mixing. In: Proceedings of the 4th world congress on civil, structural, and environmental engineering (CSEE’19), pp 1–8
Salifu E, MacLachlan E, Iyer KR et al (2016) Application of microbially induced calcite precipitation in erosion mitigation and stabilisation of sandy soil foreshore slopes: a preliminary investigation. In: Engineering geology. Elsevier, pp 96–105
Stocks-Fischer S, Galinat JK, Bang SS (1999) Microbiological precipitation of CaCO3. Soil Biol Biochem 31:1563–1571. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(99)00082-6
Talaiekhozani A, Keyvanfar A, Andalib R, Samadi M (2014) Application of Proteus mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris mixture to design self-healing concrete. Desalin Water Treat 53:3623–3630. https://doi.org/10.1080/19443994.2013.854092
Tamayo DP, Elianna F, Pedro C (2019) Metal and metalloid immobilization by microbiologically induced carbonates precipitation. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 35:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-019-2626-9
Tung H, Alleman J, Cetin B, Choi S (2020) Engineering properties of biocementation coarse- and fine-grained sand catalyzed by bacterial cells and bacterial enzyme. J Mater Civ Eng 32:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0003083
Van Der Ruyt M, Van der Zon W (2009) Biological in situ reinforcement of sand in near-shore areas. Proc Inst Civ Eng Eng 162:81–83. https://doi.org/10.1680/geng.2009.162.1.81
Wang Z, Zhang N, Ding J et al (2018) Experimental study on wind erosion resistance and strength of sands treated with microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation. Adv Mater Sci Eng 2018:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/3463298
Wang YJ, Han XL, Jn J et al (2019) The effect of enrichment media on the stimulation of native ureolytic bacteria in calcareous sand. Int J Environ Sci Technol 17:1795–1808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-019-02541-x
Wen K, Li Y, Liu S et al (2018) Development of an improved immersing method to enhance microbial induced calcite precipitation treated sandy soil through multiple treatments in low cementation media concentration. Geotech Geol Eng 37:1015–1027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-018-0669-6
Yasuhara H, Neupane D, Hayashi K, Okamura M (2012) Experiments and predictions of physical properties of sand cemented by enzymatically-induced carbonate precipitation. Soils Found 52:539–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2012.05.011
Zakari N, Shafaghat A, Keyvanfar A et al (2016) Tests and methods of evaluating the self-healing efficiency of concrete: a review. Constr Build Mater 112:1123–1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.03.017
Acknowledgements
The research work is supported financially by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (5F256) from the Ministry of Education Malaysia, GUP (20H21), and High Impact Research grant (04G57) grants provided by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. The first and fourth authors also appreciate scholarship granted by TETFUND Nigeria.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Muhammed, A.S., Kassim, K.A., Ahmad, K. et al. Influence of multiple treatment cycles on the strength and microstructure of biocemented sandy soil. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 3427–3440 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03073-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-03073-5