Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The application of bio-cementation for improvement in collapsibility of loess

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bio-cementation is currently appraised to solidify sandy soils, but only few studies use it to cement loess soil particles. The effects of the addition of loess soils on bacterial growth, urease activity, and productive rates for calcium carbonate were studied. Moreover, bio-cementation tests were conducted to improve the collapsibility of loess soils. The results showed that adding increased loess soils increased the pH of supernatant, while the addition of loess soils slightly affected the growth and urease activity of Sporosarcina pasteurii. The productive rates for calcium carbonate in samples treated with calcium chloride and calcium acetate are larger than those treated with calcium nitrate. The optimum concentrations of calcium ions and urea in the cementation solution for bio-cementation tests were 0.75 M and 1.0 M, respectively. The coefficients of collapsibility of samples with various initial densities all decreased via bio-cementation, but the decreasing ratios were different. The productive rates for calcium carbonate were larger for the samples with larger densities. The coefficients of collapsibility decreased with the increase in treatment cycles. Moreover, there were larger increasing ranges of productive rates for precipitation from 4 to 6 cycles. Adding bacterial suspension and cementation solution together enabled better treatment effects for the samples with smaller densities, however, while adding them separately was more suitable for the samples with larger densities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Some data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.

References

  • Al Qabany A, Soga K (2013) Effect of chemical treatment used in MICP on engineering properties of cemented soils. Geotechnique 63:331–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al Qabany A, Soga K, Santamarina C (2012) Factors affecting efficiency of microbially induced calcite precipitation. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 138:992–1001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng L, Cord-Ruwisch R (2014) Upscaling effects of soil improvement by microbially induced calcite precipitation by surface percolation. Geomicrobiol J 31(5):396–406

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chin WT, Kroontje W (1962) Conductivity method for estimation of enzyme activity. Agric Food Chem 10:347–348

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Muynck W, Belie ND, Verstraete W (2010) Microbial carbonate precipitation in construction materials: a review. Ecol Eng 36(2):118–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeJong JT, Fritzges MB, Nusslein K (2006) Microbially induced cementation to control sand response to undrained shear. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 132:1381–1392

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dejong JT, Soga K, Banwart SA et al (2011) Soil engineering in vivo: harnessing natural biogeochemical systems for sustainable, multi-functional engineering solutions. J R Soc Interface 8(54):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhami NK, Reddy MS, Mukherjee A (2016) Significant indicators for biomineralisation in sand of varying grain sizes. Constr Build Mater 104:198–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson JK, Fletcher M, Frederickson JK et al (2001) Subsurface microbiology and biogeochemistry. Wiley, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Harkes MP, Paassen LAV, Booster JL et al (2010) Fixation and distribution of bacterial activity in sand to induce carbonate precipitation for ground reinforcement. Ecol Eng 36(2):112–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivanov V, Chu J (2008) Applications of microorganisms to geotechnical engineering for bioclogging and biocementation of soil in situ. Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol 7(2):139–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MNH, Amarakoon GGNN (2015) Coral sand solidification test based on microbially induced carbonate precipitation using ureolytic bacteria. Mater Trans 56(10):1725–1732

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leng YQ, Peng JB, Wang QY, Meng ZJ, Huang WL (2017) A fuidized landslide occurred in the Loess Plateau: a study on loess landslide in South Jingyang tableland. Eng Geol 236:129–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li P, Vanapalli S, Li TL (2016) Review of collapse triggering mechanism of collapsible soils due to wetting. J Rock Mech Geotech Eng 8:256–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li PY, Qian H, Wu J (2018) Conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water to reduce soil salinization in the Yinchuan plain, North-West China. Int J Water Resour D 34:337–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahawish A, Bouazza A, Gates WP (2018) Effect of particle size distribution on the bio-cementation of coarse aggregates. Acta Geotech 13(4):1019–1025

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez B, DeJong J, Ginn T et al (2013) Experimental optimization of microbial-induced carbonate precipitation for soil improvement. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139(4):587–598

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miao L, Wu L, Sun X, Li X, Zhang J (2020) Method of solidifying desert sands with enzyme-catalysed mineralization. Land Degrad Dev 31(11):1317–1324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell AC, Phillips AJ, Kaszuba JP et al (2008) Microbially enhanced carbonate mineralization and the geologic containment of CO2. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72(12):A636–A636

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell J, Santamarina C (2005) Biological considerations in geotechnical engineering. J Geotech Geoenviron 131(10):1222–1233

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Omoregie AI, Khoshdelnezamiha G, Senian N et al (2017) Experimental optimisation of various cultural conditions on urease activity for isolated sporosarcina pasteurii strains and evaluation of their biocement potentials. Ecol Eng 109:65–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paassen LAV (2009) Biogrout ground improvement by microbially induced carbonate precipitation. PhD thesis, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

  • Paassen LAV, Ghose R, Linden TJMVD et al (2010) Quantifying bio-mediated ground improvement by ureolysis: a large scale biogrout experiment. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 136(12):1721–1728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salifu E, Maclachlan E, Iyer KR et al (2015) Application of microbially induced calcite precipitation in erosion mitigation and stabilisation of sandy soil foreshore slopes: a preliminary investigation. Eng Geol 201(4):96–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarmast M, Farpoor MH, Sarcheshmehpoor M et al (2014) Micromorphological and biocalcification effects of Sporosarcina pasteurii and Sporosarcina ureae in sandy soil columns. J Agric Sci Technol 16(3):681–693

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shao X, Zhang H, Tan Y (2018) Collapse behavior and microstructural alteration of remolded loess under graded wetting tests. Eng Geol 233:11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stocks-Fischer S, Galinat JK, Bang SS (1999) Microbiological precipitation of CaCO3. Soil Biol Biochem 31(11):1563–1571

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun XH, Miao LC, Tong TZ, Wang C (2018a) Improvement of microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation technology for sand solidification. J Mater Civ Eng 30(11):04018301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun XH, Miao LC, Tong TZ, Wang C (2018b) Study of the effect of temperature on microbially induced carbonate precipitation. Acta Geotech 14(3):627–638

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun X, Miao L, Wang C (2019) Glucose addition improves the bio-remediation efficiency for crack repair. Mater Struct 52(6):111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun X, Miao L, Wu L, Wang C (2019) Study of magnesium precipitation based on biocementation. Marine Georesources Geotechnol 37(10):1257–1266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sun X, Miao L, Wu L, Chen R (2019) Improvement of bio-cementation at low temperature based on Bacillus megaterium. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 103(17):7191–7202

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Terzis D, Bernier-Latmani R, Laloui L (2016) Fabric characteristics and mechanical response of bio-improved sand to various treatment conditions. Geotech Lett 6(1):50–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tittelboom KV, Belie ND, Muynck WD et al (2010) Use of bacteria to repair cracks in concrete. Cem Concr Res 40(1):157–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Torkzaban S, Tazehkand SS, Walker SL et al (2008) Transport and fate of bacteria in porous media: coupled effects of chemical conditions and pore space geometry. Water Resour Res 44(4):159–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiffin VS (2004) Microbial CaCO3 precipitation for the production of biocement [D]. Murdoch University, Perth

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiffin VS, van Paassen LA, Harkes MP (2007) Microbial carbonate precipitation as a soil improvement technique. Geomicrobiol J 24(5):417–423

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JH, Li PY, Qian H (2015) Hydrochemical characterization of drinking groundwater with special reference to fluoride in an arid area of China and the control of aquifer leakage on its concentrations. Environ Earth Sci 73:8575–8588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zamani A, Montoya BM (2016) Permeability reduction due to microbial induced calcite precipitation in sand. Geo-Chicago, pp. 94–103

  • Zhang Y, Guo HX, Cheng XH (2015) Role of calcium sources in the strength and microstructure of microbial mortar. Constr Build Mater 77:160–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X, Lu Y, Li X et al (2019) Microscopic structure changes of Malan loess after humidification in South Jingyang Plateau, China. Environ Earth Sci 78(10):287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YS, Qu YX (2005) Cements of sand loess and their cementation in North Shaanxi and West Shanxi. J Eng Geol 13:18–28

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the valuable comments from the reviewers.

Funding

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 51578147) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Number 2242020R20025).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, 210096, Jiangsu, China

    X. Sun, L. Miao & R. Chen

Authors
  1. X. Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Miao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

XS and LM conceived and designed research. XS and RC conducted experiments. XS analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to X. Sun.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Editorial responsibility: Hari Pant.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, X., Miao, L. & Chen, R. The application of bio-cementation for improvement in collapsibility of loess. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 2607–2618 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02974-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02974-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation