Mechanism And Control Of Sulphuric Acid Induced Heave in Soils

Abstract

The escalating pollution of the environment has been one of the greatest concerns of science in recent years. Industrial advances in agriculture, expansion of chemical industries and a general change in lifestyle all over the world has lead to release of a variety of pollutants into the environment, thus contaminating the atmosphere, water bodies and many soil environments. In general, other than some natural processes, soils are increasingly being contaminated by anthropogenic sources such as leakages from waste containment facilities, accidental spills and industrial operations. Apart from affecting biotic components of the ecosystem, these pollutants greatly affect the performance, behavior and stability of the soil ecosystem, these pollutants greatly affect the performance, behavior and stability of the soil systems, thus causing severe damage to structures founded on them. The hydraulic and/or chemical alterations which allow these polluting substances to move within soil pores lead to physico-chemical decomposition processes, chemical alterations, leaching and ion exchange reactions. Such reactions could also result from natural processes such as weathering; but the effects caused by pollutants occur at faster rates. Soils are composed of clays, silts and sands. Due to charged nature of the particles and their large specific surface, engineering properties of clays are greatly affected by pollutants. The magnitude of these effects can vary significantly depending on the type of soil, the type and concentration of contaminant, duration of interaction and the environmental conditions. Hence, an understanding of contaminant-clay interactions is important for prevention of geotechnical features, if possible, or at least for planning of remedial measures. Understanding these effects and planning remedial measures requires measurement of the affected properties of polluted soils. This may involve the modification of standard test procedures or the development of new test procedures. The main types of contaminants include inorganic acids, alkalis, sulphates, organic contaminants, toxic or phytotoxic metals and combustible substances. All of these are widely used in industries. While the adverse effects of presence of sulphate in alkaline conditions is well known, little information is available on the effect of sulphate in natural soils under acidic environments. Sulphuric acid is widely employed in the production of fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, pigments, rayon, film, iron, steel, explosives, paper and paper industry. It is also used in cleaning, etching, petroleum refining, electroplating, metallurgy, and in lead-acid batteries. Due to its widespread but often improper usage and the difficulty in safe storage, sulphuric acid is often found as a contaminant in natural soils. Sulphuric acid is also generated in natural soils by oxidation by pyrites in the presence of atmospheric oxygen. Hence, an attempt has been made in this thesis to study the behavior of soils containing different clay minerals during acid-sulphate interaction. The effect of sulphate on soils containing calcite, whose presence is quite common, has also been studied. A review of literature suggests that most common geotechnical failures due to contamination occur due to significant changes on the volume change behavior. Also, it is known that severe changes that occur in soil properties can essentially be attributed to mineralogical changes that occur during interaction with pollutants. Therefore, volume change behavior of soil and detailed mineralogical changes and the consequent morphological changes that occur in soils with acid sulphate are studied.