Soil Treatment using Bacteria 

Speaker: Chu Jian

Research team: V. Ivanov, V. Stanikov, J. He, M.
Naeimi and B. Li, A. Whittle (MIT) and K.P. Lam
(JTC)

GeoSS Seminar on 12 July 2012

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1. What is biocement?
Biocement A construction material made of
naturally occurring microorganisms at ambient
temperature.
Biogrouting - Use of microbial activities or
products to reduce the permeability and/or
increase the shear strength of soil.
Why biocement - It is one of the most promising
solutions to a sustainable ground improvement.

2. How does it work?

Biocementation
Strengthened soil

Original soil

Bioclogging

Clogged soil

2.1 Mechanisms

Scanning Electron
Micrograph (SEM) showing
the formation of Crystals of
CaCO3

Sand grain

Slime bonding

Bonding of sand
grains by slime
Sand grain

3. Advantages of Biocement -1
Biocement is made of naturally occurring
microorganisms at ambient temperature and
thus requires much less energy to produce.
It is sustainable as microorganisms are
abundant in nature and can be reproduced
easily at low cost.
The microorganisms that are suitable for making
biocement
are
non-pathogenic
and
environmentally friendly.

Advantages of Biogrouting -2
It will also simplify some of the existing construction
processes. For example, the biocement can be in either
solid or liquid form. In liquid form, the biogrout has much
lower viscosity and can flow like water. Thus, the
delivery of biocement into soil is much easier compared
with cement or chemical grouts. It becomes possible to
treat soil without disturbing the ground or environment.
Furthermore, when cement is used, one has to wait for
28 days for the full strength to be developed, whereas
when biocement is used, the reaction time can be
controlled or much reduced if required.
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4. History of biogrouting
The microbial influence on soil strength has been observed for a
long time (e.g., Bang, 1999)
In 2004, Whiffin completed the first ever PhD on Microbial CaCO3
precipitation for the production of biocement.
Introduction paper by Mitchell and Santamarina in ASCE in 2005.
More groups (including NTU) began to work in this area from 2006.
1st Int Workshop on Bio-Soil Interactions in 2007
ASCE GeoFrontiers sessions (New Orleans) in 2008
ISSMGE (Alexandria) in 2009
Ground Improvement Conference (Singapore) in 2009
ASCE GeoFrontiers Sessions (Dallas) in 2011
2nd Int Workshop on Bio-Soil Interactions (Cambridge) in 2011
Brussels Ground Improvement Symposium in 2012
Geotechnique Symp in Print 2013.
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5. Current Status
It is still confined mainly as lab studies. However, the
scale of samples have increased rapidly.
Field trials has started.

After van Passen (2011)

6. Three Major Applications

Biocemention to turn sand into sandstone or
soft clay to fill materials.
Bioclogging to form an imperious crust or
layer on sand and reduce the porosity and
hydraulic conductivity of soil or fissured rock.
Biogas to reduce liquefaction potential of
sand by making it slightly unsaturated using
biogas.

Application 1

BIOGAS FOR MITIGATON

OF LIQUEFACTION
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Liquefaction effects

Cyclic
strength
doubles when
the pore
pressure
coefficient B
decreases
from 1 to
around 0.2 (or
Sr = 85%).

After Yang (2004)

Mitigation of Liquefaction
using gas
Recent field studies have shown that liquefaction
potential of sand can be greatly reduced by
injecting a small amount of gas into soil.
Inclusion of gas also improves the mechanical
properties of sand.

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Biogas method
There is no effective method so far that can introduce
tiny gas bubbles uniformly in-situ and keep the bubbles
in soil for a long time.
Biogas method can produce very tiny gas bubbles in-situ.
The bacteria and nutrient regents can flow like water and
thus the distribution (or production of gas) can be more
uniform.
Denitrifying bacteria have been used to produce
nitrogen gas from nitrate.
5 C2H5OH + 12 NO3- 6 N2 + 10 CO2 + 9 H2O + 12 OH-

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Triaxial CU compression tests

Undrained compression of loose sands

B and Degree of Saturation

Liquefaction model tests

las6

las5
lvdt

Cement block

10
9
pwp3

las4

acc2

8
7
6

las3

5
pwp2

4
3

acc1

pwp1

las2

1
las1

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Pore water pressure (amax=1.5 m/s2,

Dr43~52%)
50
pwp1
pwp2
pwp3

30
50

20

pwp1
40

0
0

10
Time (s)

Sr=100%

15

20

pwp2

Sr=90%

10
Water head (cm)

Water head (cm)

40

pwp3
30

20

10

0
0

10
Time (s)

15

20

Biogas to reduce settlement

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Conclusions
Liquefaction susceptibility of fully saturated
sands can be greatly reduced by lowering
degree of saturation;
Desaturation of sands can be achieved by
microbial denitrification process.

Application 2

BIOCEMENTATION

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Biocementation of sand
For normal applications, the UCS < 3 MPa.
This requires a calcium content of 100 to
200 kg/m3. To achieve the same UCS
strength for sand using cement grouting,
the amount of cement used would be
between 250 to 300 kg/m3.

UC strength (UCS) versus calcium carbonate content for biogrout

treated sand (after Van der Ruyt and van der Zon, 2009)

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Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

Biocementation of sand
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200

Wet Samples

Dry Samples

0
0

10

12

14

Mass CaCl2/Mass Sand (%)

Using Microbially-induced Calcium carbonate (CaCO3)

Precipitation (MICP) method
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Turning sand into sandstone

Potential Applications
To enable sand bund to be built with a
steeper slope and become less erodible
To be used in where permeation grouting
could not be applied very fine sand or
silty sand
To turn soft soil or slurry into fill materials
for land reclamation at a lower cost

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Application 3

BIOCLOGGING

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Build water pond by biocemented

crust
Rupture strength = 35.9 MPa

k = 1.6 E-7 m/s

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Conclusions
Biocement can be used for soil
improvement to enhance the shear strength
of soil, mitigate liquefaction potential and
control seepage and erosion.
The use of biocement is more economical
and environmentally friendly. It is also
earlier to be delivered.

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References
Ivanov V. and Chu J. (2008). Applications of microorganisms to
geotechnical engineering for bioclogging and biocementation
of soil in situ. Reviews in Environmental Science and
Biotechnology, Vol. 7, 139-153.
Chu, J., Ivanov, V., Lee, M.F., Oh, X.M. and He, J. (2009). Soil and
waste treatment using biocement Proc. International Symposium on
Ground Improvement Technologies and Case Histories (ISGI09), 911 Dec, Singapore.
Stabnikov, V., Naeimi, M., Ivanov, V., and Chu, J. (2011).
Formation of water-impermeable crust on sand surface using
biocement. Cement and Concrete Research, Vol. 41, 1143-1149.
Chu, J., Stabnikov, V., and Ivanov, V. (2012). Microbially induced
calcium carbonate precipitation on surface or in the bulk of soil.
Geomicrobiology Journal.
He, J., Chu, J. and Ivanov, V. (2012). Mitigation of liquefaction of
saturated sand using biogas. Geotechnique (under revision)

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Thank you!

Best wishes to GeoSS

and ALL!

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