,
CALCITE - Fixation Mechanisms and Durability of Biocementation Treatment of Soils. Application to a Real Slope to Prevent Ravine Development
Started 01/01/2022, 3 Years + 6 months
CERIS/ IST-ID (Rafaela Cardoso, PI, Fernando Simões) and INESC-MN (Susana Freitas)
Funding: FCT I.P. (Ref. PTDC/ECI-EGC/1086/2021)
SUMMARY
The durability of soil treatment using biocementation will be investigated in this project, CALCITE, by studying bacteria fixation mechanisms and calcium carbonate production under the stable insoluble form of calcite, as well as by developing durability tests for biocemented soils. Prototypes and a case study of a real slope treated against ravine development are predicted, to be monitored along time to detect ravine formation and quantify changes on calcite content due to atmospheric exposition. Accelerated tests will be performed in small scale prototypes, which results will help developing prediction tools for the long term performance of the treated slope. The team gathers expertise on soil testing and characterization, soil improvement, durability tests in construction materials and bioengineering, constitutive modelling (IST-ID) and on the development of sensing and microfluidic devices at nano-micro scale necessary to visualize crystal formation and monitor bio-chemical processes occurring during the treatment (INESC-MN). CALCITE results from project BIOSOIL (PTDC/ECI-EGC/32590/2017), focused on developing monitoring tools for soil treatment using biocementation. The equipment necessary to perform biocementation in soils and carve stone joints was developed, the team learned how to produce lyophilized bacteria aiming to store ready-to-use large quantities, and also a magnetic biosenso was developed to monitor enzyme urease produced by the bacteria. Several studies exist on using biocementation as low carbon footprint soil improvement technique, alternative to traditional solutions where binding agents such as Portland cement are used. Although most of these studies are performed in laboratory environment, some field cases are reported focusing on soil strengthening and erosion protection in dikes. Reported field cases prove that the technique is feasible at large scale and companies Soletanche-Bachy and Medusoil are investing in it. Existing studies are focused mainly on defining suitable soils and treatment protocols (bacteria type and dosage, feeding frequency and dosage), costs and environmental aspects, and also on quantifying soil improvement. Because this is a recent technique (end of XX century) and only few field cases exist, apart few studies simulating the effect of freeze-drying cycles on biocemented soils and improvement against erosion, durability is still not properly investigated. It is fundamental to increase trust on this treatment and has motivated this research, being a valuable contribution to current knowledge. Durability of the treatment will be investigated adopting three complementary strategies: (i) Investigate the environmental conditions affecting the production of calcite by the bacteria species selected, instead of other mineral forms of calcium carbonate.
Microfluidic devices will be used, allowing to visualize mineral formation and collecting fluids for analysis. (ii) Study durability in treated soils by subject the samples to wetting-drying cycles simulating climate actions. The novelty is in the study of durability of this treatment, developing adequate protocols for such analysis using standard techniques. Numerical modelling of the observations using a coupled chemo-hydro-mechanical analysis, will also be done to help predicting the amounts of calcite precipitated and dissolved. (iii) Promote a field case by applying the treatment in a real slope against ravine formation, and monitor its performance during time. Several excavated slopes on sandy formations in Portuguese roads are candidates for the treatment. No ethical issues concerning bacteria injection in soils will rise because only a small extension will be treated, collecting all fluids. This will be the first Portuguese case-study on biocementation and will call the attention of the media and of the techno-scientific community. In addition, main practical application issues associated not only to durability and maintenance, but also homogenization, normalization procedures, ethical and contamination concerns, etc, will be discussed in an international workshop to be promoted at the end.
SCIENTIFIC OUTPUTS
JOURNAL PAPERS
- International
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106971
2.
Cardoso, R., Vieira, J.and Borges, I. (2022) Water retention curve of
biocemented sands using MIP results. Applied Science, MDPI.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app122010447
3. Cardoso, R., Borges, I., Vieira, J. Duarte, S.O and ,Monteiro, G. (2023). Interactions between clay minerals, bacteria growth and urease activity on biocementation of soils. Applied Clay Science
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2023.106972
4. Cardoso, R, Bonetti, L., Pinto, M., Flores-Colen, I. and Covas, I. (2024). Use of biocementation to seal joints in concrete water reservoirs. Construction and Building Materials, 412, 134854
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.134854
5. Fernandez, R. and Cardoso, R. (2024). Evaluation of biocementation using electrical resistivity measurements. Engineering Geology, 335, 107533
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107533
6. Cardoso, R. Droudinet, T, and Cardoso, S. (2024). Miniaturized device to measure urease activity in the soil interstitial fluid using wenner method. Biogeotechnics, 100120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2024.10012.
7. Terra, V.S., Simões, F. and Cardoso, R. (2024). A biochemo-hydro-mechanical model for the simulation of biocementation in soils: 1-D finite element simulations. Mathematics, 12, 3267. https://doi.org/10.3390/math12203267
Conference papers
- International
1. Cardoso, R., Barroso, A. C., Borges, I., Fernández
Rodríguez, R. and Flores-Colen, I. (2022). Use of biocementation for
sealing stone joints. Construction Pathology, Rehabilitation Technology
and
Heritage Management, REHABEND2022, September 13-16, 2022. Granada, Spain
2.Pinto, M. and Cardoso, R. (2023). Development of tools to investigate Biocementation - Microscale Analysis for Studying Bacterial Solutions. Proc. 8th International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, ICEG2023, September 3-6, 2023. Porto, Portugal
3.Borges, I. Albuquerque, D., Cardoso, S. and Cardoso, R. (2023). Towards a monitoring tool to quantify urease during biocementation treatment at microscale. Proc. 8th International Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, ICEG2023, September 3-6, 2023. Porto, Portugal
4.Rodriguez, R. and Cardoso, R. (2023). Influence of water content on the electrical resistivity of biocemented soils investigated through the shape of the water retention curve and considering chemical effects. Proc UNSAT2023. Milos, Greece
5.Cardoso, R., Vieira, J. Calheiros, A.F and Borges, I. (2023). A simple model for the water retention curve of biocemented sand using MIP results. Proc UNSAT2023. Milos, Greece
6.Fernandez Rodriguez, R and Cardoso, R. (2024). Biocementation as crack sealing technique and its inspection using SfM. Proc Rehabend 2024, Burgos, Spain.
7.Fernandez Rodriguez, R and Cardoso, R. (2024). A comparative experimental study between biocementation and a traditional cover solution to avoid ravines in slopes caused by concentrated water flow. Proc. XVIII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (XVIII ICSMGE), Lisbon, Portugal
8.Terra, V., Simões, F. and Cardoso, R. (2024). Finite Element Simulation of Biocement Precipitation in Soils. Proc. XVIII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (XVIII ICSMGE), Lisbon, Portugal
9.Cardoso, R., Oliveira, M., Cruz,M., Gonzalez, I., Rodrigues,A.T., Anjos,B., Sapin, L. and Esnault-Fillet, A. (2024). Preliminary results on the biocementation treatment of a portuguese motoway slope to prevent ravine formation. Proc. XVIII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (XVIII ICSMGE), Lisbon, Portugal
10. Pinto, M., Fernandez, R. and Cardoso, R. (2024).Thickness measurement of biocement covers in stone during rehabilitation works using photogrametry and tomography. IS-Grenoble 2024: International Symposium on Geomechanics from Micro to Macro, September 2024, Grenoble, France
11. Cardoso, R., Cruz,M., Gonzalez, I., Rodrigues,A.T., Sapin, L. and Esnault-Fillet, A. (2025). Biocementation treatment of a Portuguese motorway slope against erosion. Proc. ICBB2024, Fenix, Arizona, USA
12.
- National
1. Borges, I., Duarte, S., Monteiro, G. E Cardoso, R. (2023). Influência da distribuição espacial de biocimento na capacidade resistente de um solo arenoso. 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora
2. Terra, V., Simões, F. E Cardoso, R. (2023). Formulação de um modelo de interação hidro-químico- mecânica para o estudo da bio-cimentação de solos 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora
3. Pinto, M., Lopes,M., Silvério, V. e Cardoso, R. (2023). Estudo do efeito do pH na biocimentação de um solo arenoso através de dispositivos de microfluidica. 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora
4. Cardoso,R., Oliveira,M., Borges,I., Pinto,M., Cruz,M., Gonzalez,I., Rodrigues,A.T., Anjos,B., Sapin, L. and Esnault-Filet, A. (2023). Tratamento de um talude real para evitar ravinamento: primeiro caso-estudo Português em Biocimentação. 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora
5.Cardoso, R. Bonnetti, L.S, Pinto, M., Flores-Colen, I., Monteiro, G, e Covas, D. (2024). Uso de biocimentação para selagem de fissuras. BE2024, Lisboa
Book chapters
MSc Theses
5. Maria Margarida Barriga (2024) - Influência da granulometria e da presença de finos na biocimentação de solos arenosos. MSc Thesis, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Ongoing:
6. Francisco Tomaz (2024) - Estudo da influência da rugosidade na selagem de juntas por biocimentação
PhD Theses
- Ongoing:
1. Inês Feijão Borges - Design and development of monitoring tools for soil improvement using biocementation - Bolsa individual da FCT com referência SFRH/BD/144257/2019 desde Janeiro 2020 (Orientação Rafaela Cardoso, Co-orientação Susana Freitas,INESC-MN).
2. Mariana Mateus Pinto - Study on bacteria and calcite fixation on soils and consequent durability of the improvement achieved by Biocementation. Development of monitoring tools and application to slopes - Bolsa individual da FCT com referência SFRH/BD/01999/2020 desde Novembro 2020 (Orientação Rafaela Cardoso).
3. Victor Scaterzini Terra - Modeling biocementation in soils considering injection conditions and the efficiency of biological processes based on experimental results. (Orientação Rafaela Cardoso e Fernando Simões)
4. Layla Ferraz
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
2. R. Cardoso - Biocementation of soils, a sustainable soil improvement technique, World Conference on Environmental Earth Sciences, 24-25 October 2022, Valencia, Spain
3. R. Cardoso - Biocementation of soils as a sustainable soil improvement technique, V-CivilForum 2022, 8 December 2022, Online
4. R. Cardoso - Miniaturized devices to help investigating biocementation processes, IS Porto, 2023. IS Porto 2023, 6 September 2023, Porto
5. R. Cardoso, Oliveira, M., Cruz, M., Gonzalez, I., Rodrigues, A.T., Sapin, L. and Esnault-Filet, A. (2024). Study on the durability of the biocementation treatment of a Portuguese motorway slope. European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2024, 18th May Vienna, Austria
6. Cardoso, R. - Miniaturized device to measure urease activity in the soil interstitial fluid using wenner method. 2nd International Conference on Microbial Biotechnology in Construction Materials and Geotechnical Engineering, CMBCMGE 2024, 15th August, Singapure.