Search results for: polluted soils

Authors: Jaime Carpio-García, Elena Blanco-Fernández, Javier González-Fernández, Daniel Castro-Fresno

Abstract:

Sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) are more often used in order to prevent floods, water treatment, fight against pollution, urban heat island effect, and global warming in applications like green roofs, permeable pavements, and others. Furthermore, geosynthetics are also worldwide used as a part of drainage systems in road construction. Geotextiles are an essential part of both, and one of the main geotextile properties in those applications is permeability, whose behavior is not well established along its service life. In this paper, clogging reduction design factors for an estimated service life of 25 years are experimentally obtained for five different geotextiles used in SUDS and roads combined with two different soils and with two pollutants, motor oil, and lime, in order to evaluate chemical clogging, too. The effect of characteristic opening size and other characteristics of the geosynthetics are also discussed in order to give civil engineers, together with the clogging reduction factors, a better long-time design of geotextiles used in their SUDS and roads.

Keywords: Geotextiles, drainage, clogging, reduction factor.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16

Authors: Jann-Eike Saathoff, Kirill Alexander Schmoor, Martin Achmus, Mauricio Terceros

Abstract:

By using partial factors of safety, uncertainties due to the inherent variability of the soil properties and loads are taken into account in the geotechnical design process. According to the reliability index concept in Eurocode-0 in conjunction with Eurocode-7 a minimum safety level of β = 3.8 for reliability class RC2 shall be established. The reliability of the system depends heavily on the choice of the prespecified safety factor and the choice of the characteristic soil properties. The safety factors stated in the standards are mainly based on experience. However, no general accepted method for the calculation of a characteristic value within the current design practice exists. In this study, a laterally loaded monopile is investigated and the influence of the chosen quantile values of the deterministic system, calculated with p-y springs, will be presented. Monopiles are the most common foundation concepts for offshore wind energy converters. Based on the calculations for non-cohesive soils, a recommendation for an appropriate quantile value for the necessary safety level according to the standards for a deterministic design is given.

Keywords: Asymptotic sampling, characteristic value, monopile foundation, probabilistic design, quantile values.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 671

Authors: Fardin Boustani , Mohammah Hosein Hojati

Abstract:

The Beshar River is one aquatic ecosystem,which is affected by pollutants. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of human activities on the water quality of the Beshar river. This river is approximately 190 km in length and situated at the geographical positions of 51° 20' to 51° 48' E and 30° 18' to 30° 52' N it is one of the most important aquatic ecosystems of Kohkiloye and Boyerahmad province next to the city of Yasuj in southern Iran. The Beshar river has been contaminated by industrial, agricultural and other activities in this region such as factories, hospitals, agricultural farms, urban surface runoff and effluent of wastewater treatment plants. In order to evaluate the effects of these pollutants on the quality of the Beshar river, five monitoring stations were selected along its course. The first station is located upstream of Yasuj near the Dehnow village; stations 2 to 4 are located east, south and west of city; and the 5th station is located downstream of Yasuj. Several water quality parameters were sampled. These include pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD), temperature, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids and discharge or flow measurements. Water samples from the five stations were collected and analysed to determine the following physicochemical parameters: EC, pH, T.D.S, T.H, No2, DO, BOD5, COD during 2008 to 2009. The study shows that the BOD5 value of station 1 is at a minimum (1.5 ppm) and increases downstream from stations 2 to 4 to a maximum (7.2 ppm), and then decreases at station 5. The DO values of station 1 is a maximum (9.55 ppm), decreases downstream to stations 2 - 4 which are at a minimum (3.4 ppm), before increasing at station 5. The amount of BOD and TDS are highest at the 4th station and the amount of DO is lowest at this station, marking the 4th station as more highly polluted than the other stations. The physicochemical parameters improve at the 5th station due to pollutant degradation and dilution. Finally the point and nonpoint pollutant sources of Beshar river were determined and compared to the monitoring results.

Keywords: Beshar river, physicochemical parameter, waterpollution, Yasuj

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1603

Authors: Praveen Huded M., Suresh R. Dash

Abstract:

Pile foundations are one of the most preferred deep foundation systems for high rise or heavily loaded structures. In many instances, the failure of the pile founded structures in liquefiable soils had been observed even in many recent earthquakes. Failure of pile foundation have occurred because of buckling, as the pile behaves as an unsupported slender structural element once the surrounding soil liquefies. However, the buckling capacity depends on the depth of soil liquefied and its residual strength. Hence it is essential to check the pile against the possible buckling failure. Beam on non-linear Winkler Foundation is one of the efficient methods to model the pile-soil behavior in liquefiable soil. The pile-soil interaction is modelled through p-y springs, there are different p-y curves available for modeling liquefiable soil. In the present work, the influence of two such p-y curves on the buckling capacity of pile foundation is studied considering the initial geometric and non-linear behavior of pile foundation. The proposed method is validated against experimental results. A significant difference in the buckling capacity is observed for the two p-y curves used in the analysis. A parametric study is conducted to understand the influence of pile flexural rigidity, different initial geometric imperfections, and different soil relative densities on the buckling capacity of pile foundation.

Keywords: pile foundation, liquefaction, buckling load, non-linear p-y curve

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 673

Authors: Reza Bazargan-Lari, Mohammad Ebrahim Bahrololoom, Afshin Nemati

Abstract:

Heavy metals have bad effects on environment and soils and it can uptake by natural HAP .natural Hap is an inexpensive material that uptake large amounts of various heavy metals like Zn (II) .Natural HAP (N-HAP), extracted from bovine cortical bone ash, is a good choice for substitution of commercial HAP. Several experiments were done to investigate the sorption capacity of Zn (II) to N-HAP in various particles sizes, temperatures, initial concentrations, pH and reaction times. In this study, the sorption of Zinc ions from a Zn solution onto HAP particles with sizes of 1537.6 nm and 47.6 nm at three initial pH values of 4.50, 6.00 and 7.50 was studied. The results showed that better performance was obtained through a 47.6 nm particle size and higher pH values. The experimental data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Arrhenius equations for equilibrium, kinetic and thermodynamic studies. The analysis showed a maximum adsorption capacity of NHAP as being 1.562 mmol/g at a pH of 7.5 and small particle size. Kinetically, the prepared N-HAP is a feasible sorbent that retains Zn (II) ions through a favorable and spontaneous sorption process.

Keywords: Natural Hydroxyapatite, Heavy metal ions, Adsorption, Zn removal, kinetic model, bone ash

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2150

Authors: M. Siosemarde, M. Byzedi

Abstract:

Saturated hydraulic conductivity of Soil is an important property in processes involving water and solute flow in soils. Saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil is difficult to measure and can be highly variable, requiring a large number of replicate samples. In this study, 60 sets of soil samples were collected at Saqhez region of Kurdistan province-IRAN. The statistics such as Correlation Coefficient (R), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Bias Error (MBE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) were used to evaluation the multiple linear regression models varied with number of dataset. In this study the multiple linear regression models were evaluated when only percentage of sand, silt, and clay content (SSC) were used as inputs, and when SSC and bulk density, Bd, (SSC+Bd) were used as inputs. The R, RMSE, MBE and MAE values of the 50 dataset for method (SSC), were calculated 0.925, 15.29, -1.03 and 12.51 and for method (SSC+Bd), were calculated 0.927, 15.28,-1.11 and 12.92, respectively, for relationship obtained from multiple linear regressions on data. Also the R, RMSE, MBE and MAE values of the 10 dataset for method (SSC), were calculated 0.725, 19.62, - 9.87 and 18.91 and for method (SSC+Bd), were calculated 0.618, 24.69, -17.37 and 22.16, respectively, which shows when number of dataset increase, precision of estimated saturated hydraulic conductivity, increases.

Keywords: dataset, precision, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil and statistics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1791

Authors: Tushar Vasant Salunkhe, Sariput M. Nawghare, Maheboobsab B. Nadaf, Sushovan Dutta, J. N. Mandal

Abstract:

The model tests were conducted in the laboratory without and with Plastic recycled polymer in fly ash steep slopes overlaying soft foundation soils like fly ash and powai soil in order to check the stability of steep slope. In this experiment, fly ash is used as a filling material and Plastic Recycled Polymers of diameter = 3mm and length = 4mm were made from waste plastic product (lower grade plastic product). The properties of fly ash and Plastic recycled polymers are determined. From the experiments, load and settlement have measured. From these data, load –settlement curves have reported. It has been observed from test results that load carrying capacity of mixture fly ash with Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is more than that of fly ash slope. The deformation of Plastic Recycled Polymers slope is slightly more than that of fly ash slope. A Finite Element Method (F.E.M.) was also evaluated using PLAXIS 3D version. The failure pattern, deformations and factor of safety are reported based on analytical programme. The results from experimental data and analytical programme are compared and reported.

Keywords: Fly ash, Plastic recycled polymer, Factor of safety, Finite element method (FEM), Bishop’s simplified method.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2547

Authors: T. Farah, H. Souli, J. –M. Fleureau, G. Kermouche, J. –J. Fry, B. Girard, D. Aelbrecht

Abstract:

In this work, the bioclogging of two soils with different granulometries is presented. The durability of the clogging is also studied under cycles of hydraulic head and under cycles of desaturation-resaturation. The studied materials present continuous grain size distributions. The first one corresponding to the "material 1” presents grain sizes between 0.4 and 4mm. The second material called "material 2" is composed of grains with size varying between 1 and 10mm. The results show that clogging occurs very quickly after the injection of nutrition and an outlet flow near to 0 is observed. The critical hydraulic head is equal to 0.76 for "material 1", and 0.076 for "material 2". The durability tests show a good resistance to unclogging under cycles of hydraulic head and desaturation-resaturation for the "material 1". Indeed, the flow after the cycles is very low. In contrast, "material 2", shows a very bad resistance, especially under the hydraulic head cycles. The resistance under the cycles of desaturation-resaturation is better but an important increase of the flow is observed. The difference of behavior is due to the granulometry of the materials. Indeed, the large grain size contributes to the reduction of the efficiency of the bioclogging treatment in this material. 

Keywords: Bioclogging, Granulometry, permeability, nutrition.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2006

Authors: Ratchasak Suvannatsiri

Abstract:

The objectives of the research are to find the basic engineering properties of lateritic soil and to predict the impact on community members who live nearby the excavation pits in the area of Amphur Pak Thor, Ratchaburi Province in the western area of Thailand. The research was conducted by collecting soil samples from four excavation pits for basic engineering properties, testing and collecting questionnaire data from 120 community members who live nearby the excavation pits, and applying statistical analysis. The results found that the basic engineering properties of lateritic soil can be classified into silt soil type which is cohesionless as the loess or collapsible soil which is not suitable to be used for a pavement structure for commuting highway because it could lead to structural and functional failure in the long run. In terms of opinion from community members toward the impact, the highest impact was on the dust from excavation activities. The prediction from the logistic regression in terms of impact on community members was at 84.32 which can be adapted and applied onto other areas with the same context as a guideline for risk prevention and risk communication since it could impact the infrastructures and also impact the health of community members.

Keywords: Lateritic soil, excavation pits, engineering properties, impact on community members

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 766

Authors: Wei-Soon Ng, Min-Lee Lee, Siew-Ling Hii

Abstract:

Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a relatively green and sustainable soil improvement technique. It utilizes biochemical process that exists naturally in soil to improve engineering properties of soils. The calcite precipitation process is uplifted by the mean of injecting higher concentration of urease positive bacteria and reagents into the soil. The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the factors affecting the MICP in soil. Several factors were identified including nutrients, bacteria type, geometric compatibility of bacteria, bacteria cell concentration, fixation and distribution of bacteria in soil, temperature, reagents concentration, pH, and injection method. These factors were found to be essential for promoting successful MICP soil treatment. Furthermore, a preliminary laboratory test was carried out to investigate the potential application of the technique in improving the shear strength and impermeability of a residual soil specimen. The results showed that both shear strength and impermeability of residual soil improved significantly upon MICP treatment. The improvement increased with increasing soil density.

Keywords: Bacteria, biocementation, bioclogging, calcite precipitation, soil improvement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5944

Authors: A. Sawangsuriya, T. B. Edil

Abstract:

Microstructure and fabric of soils play an important role on structural properties e.g. stiffness and strength of compacted earthwork. Traditional quality control monitoring based on moisturedensity tests neither reflects the variability of soil microstructure nor provides a direct assessment of structural property, which is the ultimate objective of the earthwork quality control. Since stiffness and strength are sensitive to soil microstructure and fabric, any independent test methods that provide simple, rapid, and direct measurement of stiffness and strength are anticipated to provide an effective assessment of compacted earthen materials’ uniformity. In this study, the soil stiffness gauge (SSG) and the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) were respectively utilized to measure and monitor the stiffness and strength in companion with traditional moisture-density measurements of various earthen materials used in Thailand road construction projects. The practical earthwork quality control criteria are presented herein in order to assure proper earthwork quality control and uniform structural property of compacted earthworks.

Keywords: Dynamic cone penetrometer, moisture content, relative compaction, soil stiffness gauge, structural property.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2322

Authors: K. Benyounes, A. Benmounah

Abstract:

Cement-based grouts has been used successfully to repair cracks in many concrete structures such as bridges, tunnels, buildings and to consolidate soils or rock foundations. In the present study the rheological characterization of cement grout with water/binder ratio (W/B) is fixed at 0.5. The effect of the replacement of cement by bentonite (2 to 10% wt) in presence of superplasticizer (0.5% wt) was investigated. Several rheological tests were carried out by using controlled-stress rheometer equipped with vane geometry in temperature of 20°C. To highlight the influence of bentonite and superplasticizer on the rheological behavior of grout cement, various flow tests in a range of shear rate from 0 to 200 s-1 were observed. Cement grout showed a non-Newtonian viscosity behavior at all concentrations of bentonite. Three parameter model Herschel- Bulkley was chosen for fitting of experimental data. Based on the values of correlation coefficients of the estimated parameters, The Herschel-Bulkley law model well described the rheological behavior of the grouts. Test results showed that the dosage of bentonite increases the viscosity and yield stress of the system and introduces more thixotropy. While the addition of both bentonite and superplasticizer with cement grout improve significantly the fluidity and reduced the yield stress due to the action of dispersion of SP.

Keywords: Cement grout, bentonite, superplasticizer, viscosity, yield stress.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3563

Authors: Samera Salimpour Abkenar

Abstract:

In traditional dyeing of natural fibers with natural dyes, metal salts are commonly used to increase color stability. This method always carries the risk of environmental pollution (contamination of arable soils and fresh groundwater) due to the release of dyeing effluents containing large amounts of metal. Therefore, researchers are always looking for new methods to obtain a green dyeing system. In this research, the use of the enzymatic dyeing method to prevent environmental pollution with metals and reduce production costs has been proposed. After degumming and bleaching, raw silk fabrics were dyed with natural dyes (Madder and Sumac) by three methods (pre-mordanting with a metal salt, one-step enzymatic dyeing, and two-step enzymatic dyeing). Results show that silk dyed with natural dyes by the enzymatic method has higher color strength and colorfastness than the pretreated with a metal salt. Also, the amount of remained dyes in the dyeing wastewater is significantly reduced by the enzymatic method. It is found that the enzymatic dyeing method leads to improvement of dye absorption, color strength, soft hand, no change in color shade, low production costs (due to low dyeing temperature), and a significant reduction in environmental pollution.

Keywords: Eco-friendly, natural dyes, silk, traditional dyeing.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 578

Authors: O. O. Olubode, I. O. O. Aiyelaagbe, J. G. Bodunde

Abstract:

Field study was conducted to determine the post field soil fertility status responses of pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) var. homestead selection and sunrise-solo orchards to organo-mineral fertilizer (OMF) rates applied at 10, 20 40 t/ha where both the zero t/ha OMF and NPK 15:15:15 at 50 g/plant/month served as control. The result showed that all pawpaw orchards treated with OMF rates recorded significantly (p≤0.01) higher % P, % K, Na and % organic matter in soil compared to applied NPK which recorded lower Na. However, while orchards plated with sole pawpaw were higher in soil bulk density (SBD), orchards with homestead mixture were lower in SBD and significantly lower % organic matter compared to obtainable under sunrise crop mixture which recorded lower Na and Mg. In conclusion, as a result of loosening effect on soil particles, the homestead pawpaw probably due to more rooting activities as well as the addition of organic fertilizer to soils both had significant influence leading to lower SBD. 

Keywords: Carica papaya (L), growth and yield, organo-mineral fertilizer, soil fertility status.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2046

Authors: A. Hani

Abstract:

In recent decades with the development of technology and lack of food sources, sewage sludge in production of human foods is inevitable. Various sources of municipal and industrial sewage sludge that is produced can provide the requirement of plant nutrients. Soils in arid, semi-arid climate of central Iran that most affected by water drainage, iron and zinc deficiencies, using of sewage sludge is helpful. Therefore, the aim of this study is investigation of sewage sludge and manure application on Ni, Pb and Cd uptake by Savory. An experiment in a randomized complete block design with three replications was performed. Sewage sludge treatments consisted of four levels, control, 15, 30, 80 tons per hectares; the manure was used in four levels of control, 20, 40 and 80 tons per hectare. Results showed that the wet and dry weights was not affected by sewage sludge using, while, manure has significant effect on them. The effect of sewage sludge on the cadmium and lead concentrations were significant. Interactions of sewage sludge and manure on dry weight values were not significant. Compare mean analysis showed that increasing the amount of sewage sludge had no significant effect on cadmium concentration and it reduced when sewage sludge usage increased. This is probably due to increased plant growth and reduced concentrations of these elements in the plant.

Keywords: Savory, lead, cadmium, sewage sludge, manure.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1726

Authors: Azadeh Vaziri

Abstract:

Using effluent as a sustainable water resource for agriculture not only could provide part of water needs but also would save the existing water resources, durably. Vinasse, the effluent of ethyl alcohol factories, a by-product, which is derived from sugarcane molasses, is one of the water resources that could be effectively utilized for agricultural purposes. In the present study in order to investigate the application of different ratios of water: vinasse on germination and growth of barley seedlings an experiment was designed in pots with completely randomized design with three replications and control treatment. The consequences of four irrigation levels were studied with different water: effluent ratios (100% water, 90% water & 10% effluent, 75% water & 25% effluent, 50% water & 50% effluent) on germination and growth of barley seedling components in sandy-loam soil. The results showed that, with increasing the percentage of vinasse in the irrigation admixture, the germination percentage in barley seedlings decreased, significantly, so that the decrease in germination in comparison with the control samples in the second and third treatments was 20% and 93.33%, respectively. Seed germination percentage was about 46.66. The average stem length in seedlings was 14.3 mm and the average root length was 9.37 mm. The averages of the soils Electrical Conductivity (EC) and pH which were under irrigation with different ratios of vinasse (dSm-1) were 5.85 and 7.32, respectively, which showed a 76.2% increase in soil salinity.

Keywords: Electrical Conductivity, effluent, germination, vinasse, barley.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 404

Authors: Mahsa Tavakoli, Seyed Mohammad Hojjati, Yahya Kooch

Abstract:

In this study, the effect of coal mining activities on lead and cadmium concentrations and distribution in soil was investigated in Hyrcanian forest, North Iran. 16 plots (20×20 m²) were established by systematic-randomly (60×60 m²) in an area of 4 ha (200×200 m²-mine entrance placed at center). An area adjacent to the mine was not affected by the mining activity; considered as the controlled area. In order to investigate soil lead and cadmium concentration, one sample was taken from the 0-10 cm in each plot. To study the spatial pattern of soil properties and lead and cadmium concentrations in the mining area, an area of 80×80m² (the mine as the center) was considered and 80 soil samples were systematic-randomly taken (10 m intervals). Geostatistical analysis was performed via Kriging method and GS⁺ software (version 5.1). In order to estimate the impact of coal mining activities on soil quality, pollution index was measured. Lead and cadmium concentrations were significantly higher in mine area (Pb: 10.97±0.30, Cd: 184.47±6.26 mg.kg^-1) in comparison to control area (Pb: 9.42±0.17, Cd: 131.71±15.77 mg.kg^-1). The mean values of the PI index indicate that Pb (1.16) and Cd (1.77) presented slightly polluted. Results of the NIPI index showed that Pb (1.44) and Cd (2.52) presented slight pollution and moderate pollution respectively. Results of variography and kriging method showed that it is possible to prepare interpolation maps of lead and cadmium around the mining areas in Hyrcanian forest. According to results of pollution and risk assessments, forest soil was contaminated by heavy metals (lead and cadmium); therefore, using reclamation and remediation techniques in these areas is necessary.

Keywords: Traditional coal mining, heavy metals, pollution indicators, geostatistics, caspian forest.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1049

Authors: Barman P.J, Kartha S A, Gupta S, Pradhan B.

Abstract:

Column leach test has been performed to examine the behavior of leaching of sodium, calcium and potassium in landfills. In the column leach apparatus, two different layers of contaminated and uncontaminated soils of different height ratios (ratio of depth of contaminated soil to the depth of uncontaminated soil) are taken. Water is poured from an overhead tank at a particular flowrate to the inlet of the soil column for a certain ponding depth over the contaminated soil. Subsequent infiltration causes leaching and the leachates are collected from the bottom of the column. The concentrations of Na, Ca and K in the leachate are measured using flame photometry. The experiments are further extended by changing the rates of flow from the overhead tank to the inlet of the column in achieving the same ponding depth. The experiments are performed for different scenarios in which the height ratios are altered and the variations of concentrations of Na, Ca, and K are observed. The study brings an estimation of leaching in landfill sites for different heights and precipitation intensity where a ponding depth is maintained over the landfill. It has been observed that the leaching behavior of Na, Ca, and K are not similar. Calcium exhibits highest amount of leaching compared to Sodium and Potassium under similar experimental conditions.

Keywords: Column leaching, flow rate, uncontaminated soil, contaminated soil, concentration, height ratio.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2333

Authors: A. H. Tadevosyan, S. K. Mayrapetyan, N. B. Tavakalyan, K. I. Pyuskyulyan, A. H. Hovsepyan, S. N. Sergeeva

Abstract:

Soil contamination with radiocesium has a long-term radiological impact due to its long physical half-life (30.1 years for ¹³⁷Cs and 2 years for ¹³⁴Cs) and its high biological availability. ¹³⁷Cs causes the largest concerns because of its deleterious effect on agriculture and stock farming, and, thus, human life for decades. One of the important aspects of the problem of contaminated soils remediation is understand of protective actions aimed at the reduction of biological migration of radionuclides in soil-plant system. The most effective way to bind radionuclides is the use of selective sorbents. The proposed research mainly aims to achieve control on transfer of ¹³⁷Cs in a system growing media – plant due to counter ions variation in the polymeric sorbents. As research object Japanese basil - Perilla frutescens was chosen. Productivity of plants depending on the presence (control-without presence of polymer) and type of polymer material, as well as content of ¹³⁷Cs in plant material has been determined. The character of different polymers influences on the ¹³⁷Cs migration in growing media – plant system as well as accumulation in the plants has been cleared up.

Keywords: Radioceaseum, Japanese basil, polymer, soil-plant system.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1841

Authors: S. Asreazad

Abstract:

This paper presents the results that the soil volumetric strain and shear strength are closely related to the confining stress and initial matric suction under constant water content testing on the specimens of unsaturated sand with clay and silt fines contents. The silty sand specimens reached their peak strength after a very small axial strain followed by a post-peak softening towards an ultimate value. The post-peak drop in stress increased by an increment of the suction, while there is no peak strength for clayey sand specimens. The clayey sand shows compressibility and possesses ductile stress-strain behaviour. Shear strength increased nonlinearly with respect to matric suction for both soil types. When suction exceeds a certain range, the effect of suction on shear strength increment weakens gradually. Under the same confining stress, the dilatant tendencies in the silty sand increased under lower values of suction and decreased for higher suction values under the same confining stress. However, the amount of contraction increased with increasing initial suction for clayey sand specimens.

Keywords: Unsaturated soils, silty sand, clayey sand, triaxial test, constant water content.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 991

Authors: E. D. Paul, H. Otanwa, O. F. Paul, A. J. Salifu, J. E. Toryila, C. E. Gimba

Abstract:

The concentration levels of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) and two mineral elements (Ca and Mg) were determined in soil samples collected from the vicinity of two auto mechanic workshops in Sabon-Gari, Kaduna state, Nigeria, using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), in order to compare the gradation of their concentrations with distance and depth of soil from the workshop sites. At site 1, concentrations of Lead, Chromium, Iron and Zinc were generally found to be above the World Health Organization limits, while those of Nickel and Cadmium fell within the limits. Iron had the highest concentration with a range of 176.274 ppm to 489.127 ppm at depths of 5 cm to 15 cm and a distance range of 5 m to 15 m, while the concentration of cadmium was least with a range of 0.001 ppm to 0.008 ppm at similar depth and distance ranges. In addition, there was more of calcium (11.521 ppm to 121.709 ppm), in all the samples, than magnesium (11.293 ppm to 21.635 ppm). Similar results were obtained for site II. The concentrations of all the metals analyzed showed a downward gradient with increase in depth and distance from both workshop sites except for iron and zinc at site 2. The immediate and remote implications of these findings on the biota are discussed.

Keywords: AAS, Heavy Metals, Mechanic Workshops, Soils.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2129

Authors: Amanda M. Tadini, Houssam Hajjoul, Gustavo Nicolodelli, Stéphane Mounier, Célia R. Montes, Débora M. B. P. Milori

Abstract:

Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in maintaining soil productivity and accounting for the promotion of biological diversity. The main components of the SOM are the humic substances which can be fractionated according to its solubility in humic acid (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and humin (HU). The determination of the chemical properties of organic matter as well as its interaction with metallic species is an important tool for understanding the structure of the humic fractions. Fluorescence spectroscopy has been studied as a source of information about what is happening at the molecular level in these compounds. Specially, soils of Amazon region are an important ecosystem of the planet. The aim of this study is to understand the molecular and structural composition of HA samples from Spodosol of Amazonia using the fluorescence Emission-Excitation Matrix (EEM) and Time Resolved Fluorescence Spectroscopy (TRFS). The results showed that the samples of HA showed two fluorescent components; one has a more complex structure and the other one has a simpler structure, which was also seen in TRFS through the evaluation of each sample lifetime. Thus, studies of this nature become important because it aims to evaluate the molecular and structural characteristics of the humic fractions in the region that is considered as one of the most important regions in the world, the Amazon.

Keywords: Amazonian soil, characterization, fluorescence, humic acid, lifetime.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1120

Authors: Ali Komakpanah, Maryam Yazdi

Abstract:

Few studies have been conducted on polymeric strip and the behavior of soil retaining walls. This paper will present the effect of frequency on the dynamic behavior of reinforced soil retaining walls with polymeric strips. The frequency content describes how the amplitude of a ground motion is distributed among different frequencies. Since the frequency content of an earthquake motion will strongly influence the effects of that motion, the characterization of the motion cannot be completed without the consideration of its frequency content. The maximum axial force of reinforcements and horizontal displacement of the reinforced walls are focused in this research. To clarify the dynamic behavior of reinforced soil retaining walls with polymeric strips, a numerical modeling using Finite Difference Method is benefited. As the results indicate, the frequency of input base acceleration has an important effect on the behavior of these structures. Because of resonant in the system, where the frequency of the input dynamic load is equal to the natural frequency of the system, the maximum horizontal displacement and the maximum axial forces in polymeric strips is occurred. Moreover, they were to increase the structure flexibility because of the main advantages of polymeric strips; i.e. being simple method of construction, having a homogeneous behavior with soils, and possessing long durability, which are of great importance in dynamic analysis.

Keywords: dynamic analysis, frequency, polymeric strip, reinforced soil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2249

Authors: Ayuko Itsuki, Sachiyo Aburatani

Abstract:

The soil ecology of the organic and mineral soil layers of laurel-leaved and Cryptomeria japonica forest in the Kasuga-yama Hill Primeval Forest (Nara, Japan) was assessed. The number of bacteria obtained by the dilution plate count method was less than 0.05% of those counted by the direct microscopic count. We therefore found that forest soil contains large numbers of non-culturable bacteria compared with agricultural soils. The numbers of bacteria and fungi obtained by both the dilution plate count and the direct microscopic count were larger in the deeper horizons (F and H) of the organic layer than in the mineral soil layer. This suggests that active microbial metabolism takes place in the organic layer. The numbers of bacteria and the length of fungal hyphae obtained by the direct count method were greater in the H horizon than in the F horizon. The direct microscopic count revealed numerous non-culturable bacteria and fungi in the soil. The ratio of fungal to bacterial biomass was lower in the laurel-leaved forest soil. The fungal biomass was therefore relatively low in the laurel-leaved forest soil due to differences in forest vegetation.

Keywords: Bacterial number, Dilution plate count, Direct microscopic count, Forest soil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3770

Authors: Ahmed O. Apampa, Yinusa A. Jimoh

Abstract:

The paper examines the mechanism of pozzolan-soil reactions, using a recent study on the chemical stabilization of a Class A-2-7 (3) lateritic soil, with corn cob ash (CCA) as case study. The objectives are to establish a nexus between cation exchange capacity of the soil, the alkaline forming compounds in CCA and percentage CCA addition to soil beyond which no more improvement in strength properties can be achieved; and to propose feasible chemical reactions to explain the chemical stabilization of the lateritic soil with CCA alone. The lateritic soil, as well as CCA of pozzolanic quality Class C were separately analysed for their metallic oxide composition using the X-Ray Fluorescence technique. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soil and the CCA were computed theoretically using the percentage composition of the base cations Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ K⁺ and Na²⁺ as 1.48 meq/100 g and 61.67 meq/100 g respectively, thus indicating a ratio of 0.024 or 2.4%. This figure, taken as the theoretical amount required to just fill up the exchangeable sites of the clay molecules, compares well with the laboratory observation of 1.5% for the optimum level of CCA addition to lateritic soil. The paper went on to present chemical reaction equations between the alkaline earth metals in the CCA and the silica in the lateritic soil to form silicates, thereby proposing an extension of the theory of mechanism of soil stabilization to cover chemical stabilization with pozzolanic ash only. The paper concluded by recommending further research on the molecular structure of soils stabilized with pozzolanic waste ash alone, with a view to confirming the chemical equations advanced in the study.

Keywords: Cation exchange capacity, corn cob ash, lateritic soil, soil stabilization.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1343

Authors: Fardin Boustani, Mohammah Hosein Hojati, Masoud Hashemi

Abstract:

The Beshar River is one aquatic ecosystem, which is located next to the city of Yasuj in southern Iran. The Beshar river has been contaminated by industrial factories such as effluent of sugar factory, agricultural and other activities in this region such as, Imam Sajjad hospital, drainage from agricultural farms, Yasuj urban surface runoff and effluent of wastewater treatment plants ,specially Yasuj waste water treatment plant. In order to evaluate the effects of these pollutants on the quality of the Beshar river, five monitoring stations were selected along its course. The first station is located upstream of Yasuj near the Dehnow village; stations 2 to 4 are located east, south and west of city; and the 5th station is located downstream of Yasuj. Several water quality parameters were sampled. These include pH, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD), temperature, conductivity, turbidity, total dissolved solids and discharge or flow measurements. Water samples from the five stations were collected and analyzed to determine the following physicochemical parameters: EC, pH, T.D.S, T.H, No2, DO, BOD5, COD during 2008 to 2010. The study shows that the BOD5 value of station 1 is at a minimum (1.7 ppm) and increases downstream from stations 2 to 4 to a maximum (11.6 ppm), and then decreases at station 5. The DO values of station 1 is a maximum (8.45 ppm), decreases downstream to stations 2 - 4 which are at a minimum (3.1 ppm), before increasing at station 5. The amount of BOD and TDS are highest at the 4th station and the amount of DO is lowest at this station, marking the 4th station as more highly polluted than the other stations .This study shows average amount of the water quality parameters in first year of sampling (2008) have had a better quality relation to third year in 2010 because of recent drought in this region and pollutant increasing .As the Beshar river path after 5th station goes through the mountain area with more slope and flow velocity ,so the physicochemical parameters improve at the 5th station due to pollutant degradation and dilution. Finally the point and nonpoint pollutant sources of Beshar river were determined and compared to the monitoring results.

Keywords: Beshar river, physicochemical parameter, waterpollution, water quality, Yasuj

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1648

Authors: A. A. Embaby, A. Abu Halawa, M. Ramadan

Abstract:

In Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there are several areas where expansive soil exists in the form of variable-thicknesses layers in the developed regions. Severe distress to infrastructures can be caused by the development of heave and swelling pressure in this kind of expansive shale. Among the various techniques for expansive soil mitigation, the removal and replacement technique is very popular for lightly loaded structures and shallow foundations. This paper presents the result of an experimental study conducted for evaluating the effect of type and thickness of the cushion soils on mitigation of swelling characteristics of expanded shale. Seven undisturbed shale samples collected from Al Qadsiyah district, which is located in the Tabuk town north Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are treated with two types of cushion coarse-grained sediments (CCS); sand and gravel. Each type is represented with three thicknesses, 22%, 33% and 44% in relation to the depth of the active zone. The test results indicated that the replacement of expansive shale by CCS reduces the swelling potential and pressure. It is found that the reduction in swelling depends on the type and thickness of CCS. The treatment by removing the original expansive shale and replacing it by cushion sand with 44% thickness reduced the swelling potential and pressure of about 53.29% and 62.78 %, respectively.

Keywords: Cushion coarse-grained sediments, expansive soil, Saudi Arabia, swelling pressure, Tabuk Shale.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1540

Authors: Ali A. Al-Jazaairry, Tahsin T. Sabbagh

Abstract:

Presence of cavities in soil predictably induces ground deformation and changes in soil stress, which might influence adjacent existing pile foundations, though the effect of twin cavities on a nearby pile needs to be understood. This research is an attempt to identify the behaviour of piles subjected to axial load and embedded in cavitied clayey soil. A series of finite element modelling were conducted to investigate the performance of piled foundation located in such soils. The validity of the numerical simulation was evaluated by comparing it with available field test and alternative analytical model. The study involved many parameters such as twin cavities size, depth, spacing between cavities, and eccentricity of cavities from the pile axis on the pile performance subjected to axial load. The study involved many cases; in each case, a critical value has been found in which cavities’ presence has shown minimum impact on the behaviour of pile. Load-displacement relationships of the affecting parameters on the pile behaviour were presented to provide helpful information for designing piled foundation situated near twin underground cavities. It was concluded that the presence of the cavities within the soil mass reduces the ultimate capacity of pile. This reduction differs according to the size and location of the cavity.

Keywords: Axial load, clay, finite element, pile, twin cavities, ultimate capacity.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1252

Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong, Ofonime U. M. John

Abstract:

Brass terminal, one of the several crude oil and petroleum products storage/handling facilities in the Niger Delta was built in the 1980s. Activities at this site, over the years, released crude oil into this 3 m-deep, 1500 m-long canal lying adjacent to the terminal with oil floating on it and its sediment heavily polluted. To ensure effective clean-up, three major activities were planned: site characterization, bioremediation pilot plant construction and testing and full-scale bioremediation of contaminated sediment / bank soil by land farming. The canal was delineated into 12 lots and each characterized, with reference to the floating oily phase, contaminated sediment and canal bank soil. As a result of site characterization, a pilot plant for on-site bioremediation was designed and a treatment basin constructed for carrying out pilot bioremediation test. Following a designed sampling protocol, samples from this pilot plant were collected for analysis at two laboratories as a quality assurance / quality control check. Results showed that Brass Canal upstream is contaminated with dark, thick and viscous oily film with characteristic hydrocarbon smell while downstream, thin oily film interspersed with water was observed. Sediments were observed to be dark with mixture of brownish sandy soil with TPH ranging from 17,800 mg/kg in Lot 1 to 88,500 mg/kg in Lot 12 samples. Brass Canal bank soil was observed to be sandy from ground surface to 3m, below ground surface (bgs) it was silty-sandy and brownish while subsurface soil (4-10m bgs) was sandy-clayey and whitish/grayish with typical hydrocarbon smell. Preliminary results obtained so far have been very promising but were proprietary. This project is considered, to the best of technical literature knowledge, the first large-scale on-site bioremediation project in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria.

Keywords: Bioremediation, Contaminated sediment, Land farming, Oily sludge, Oil Terminal.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2059

Authors: M. Azadi, M. Kalhor

Abstract:

Excavation of shallow tunnels such as subways in urban areas plays a significant role as a life line and investigation of the soil behavior against tunnel construction is one of the vital subjects studied in the geotechnical scope. Nowadays, urban tunnels are mostly drilled by T.B.Ms and changing the applied forces to tunnel lining is one of the most risky matters while drilling tunnels by these machines. Variation of soil cementation can change the behavior of these forces in the tunnel lining. Therefore, this article is designed to assess the impact of tunnel excavation in different soils and several amounts of cementation on applied loads to tunnel lining under static and dynamic loads. According to the obtained results, changing the cementation of soil will affect the applied loadings to the tunnel envelope significantly. It can be determined that axial force in tunnel lining decreases considerably when soil cementation increases. Also, bending moment and shear force in tunnel lining decreases as the soil cementation increases and causes bending and shear behavior of the segments to improve. Based on the dynamic analyses, as cohesion factor in soil increases, bending moment, axial and shear forces of segments decrease but lining behavior of the tunnel is the same as static state. The results show that decreasing the overburden applied to lining caused by cementation is different in two static and dynamic states.

Keywords: Tunnel, Soil cementation, Static, Dynamic.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2223