Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments

This study proposes and describes a novel approach for cementing sandy soils in marine environments by modifying the promising technique of microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). In contrast to the usual MICP technique described in the literature, the method proposed herein relies on th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cheng, Liang, Shahin, Mohamed, Cord-Ruwisch, R.
Format: Journal Article
Published: I C E Publishing 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43106
_version_ 1848756599495065600
author Cheng, Liang
Shahin, Mohamed
Cord-Ruwisch, R.
author_facet Cheng, Liang
Shahin, Mohamed
Cord-Ruwisch, R.
author_sort Cheng, Liang
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This study proposes and describes a novel approach for cementing sandy soils in marine environments by modifying the promising technique of microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). In contrast to the usual MICP technique described in the literature, the method proposed herein relies on the calcium ions dissolved in seawater as the sole source of calcium for calcite formation. This proposed method involves flushing high-salinity-tolerant, urease-active bacteria followed by a mixture of urea and seawater through a porous sandy soil, leading to bacterial carbonate release from the urease reaction and precipitation of insoluble and semi-soluble carbonate salts including calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate trihydrate. This precipitation method resulted in a physical stabilisation of sand that reached an unconfined compressive strength of up to 300 kPa, which is about two-fold higher (with same amount of crystals produced) than that of the MICP treatment in which highly concentrated calcium and urea solutions are used. Permeability was retained at about 30% for all MICP-treated samples, suggesting good drainage ability. This new exploration of MICP technology provides a high potential for using bio-cementation in marine environments, for applications such as mitigation of submarine sediment liquefaction and prevention of beach sand erosion and cliffs scouring.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:14:46Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-43106
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:14:46Z
publishDate 2014
publisher I C E Publishing
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-431062017-09-13T15:55:53Z Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments Cheng, Liang Shahin, Mohamed Cord-Ruwisch, R. This study proposes and describes a novel approach for cementing sandy soils in marine environments by modifying the promising technique of microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). In contrast to the usual MICP technique described in the literature, the method proposed herein relies on the calcium ions dissolved in seawater as the sole source of calcium for calcite formation. This proposed method involves flushing high-salinity-tolerant, urease-active bacteria followed by a mixture of urea and seawater through a porous sandy soil, leading to bacterial carbonate release from the urease reaction and precipitation of insoluble and semi-soluble carbonate salts including calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate trihydrate. This precipitation method resulted in a physical stabilisation of sand that reached an unconfined compressive strength of up to 300 kPa, which is about two-fold higher (with same amount of crystals produced) than that of the MICP treatment in which highly concentrated calcium and urea solutions are used. Permeability was retained at about 30% for all MICP-treated samples, suggesting good drainage ability. This new exploration of MICP technology provides a high potential for using bio-cementation in marine environments, for applications such as mitigation of submarine sediment liquefaction and prevention of beach sand erosion and cliffs scouring. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43106 10.1680/geot.14.T.025 I C E Publishing fulltext
spellingShingle Cheng, Liang
Shahin, Mohamed
Cord-Ruwisch, R.
Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title_full Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title_fullStr Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title_full_unstemmed Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title_short Bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
title_sort bio-cementation of sandy soil using microbially induced carbonate precipitation for marine environments
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43106