Abstract
Purpose
Due to its poor performance, clayey soil needs to be replaced to meet the requirements of engineering projects, which causes environmental damage and resource waste. To avoid the aforementioned problems, this study aims to develop an in situ microwave treatment for clayey soil, investigate the effect of microwaves in different soil regions, and evaluate the feasibility of microwave heating in situ treatment of wasted clayey soil.
Method
A soil model was exposed to microwaves with a frequency of 2.45 GHz and a power of 1.25 kW for 72 h. The temperatures of various locations were monitored in several sections of the model. And the moisture content, macroscopic and microscopic properties, Vickers hardness, free swelling rate, and water stability were measured by a series of tests after irradiation.
Results
The effects of soil heating, drying, and performance improvement under in situ microwave irradiation are regional. It can be summarized as follows. (1) The soil can be divided into three areas: the microwave heating area, the heat transfer area, and the unaffected area under microwave radiation. (2) Water intensely evaporates in the microwave heating area and migrates in the heat transfer area and unaffected area under microwave irradiation. (3) The soil mechanical properties and water stability are evidently improved in the microwave heating area, and the improvement effect is better than that of traditional heating.
Conclusion
These findings make it possible to achieve environmental protection and resource conservation by the in situ microwave treatment of clayey soils.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
The authors received research fellowship from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 52178357 and 52078442), Sichuan Science and Technology Program (grant number 2021YFSY0006), and Sichuan Province Youth Science and Technology Innovation Team (grant number 22CXTD0087).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Liu Zhicheng, Gu Yucheng, and Li Muyao. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Liu Zhicheng. The draft was reviewed and edited by Zeng Junsen and He Leping. And the funding was acquired by He Leping and Hu qijun. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Hu, Q., Liu, Z., He, L. et al. Study on microwave heating in-situ treatment of wasted clayey soil. J Soils Sediments 23, 3345–3361 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03554-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03554-3