Collaborative Research: Enhancement of Vertical Elements for Foundation Support by Ureolytic Carbonate Precipitation

合作研究：通过尿素分解碳酸盐沉淀增强地基支撑的垂直元素

• 批准号: 1233658
• 负责人: Edward Kavazanjian
• 金额: $ 19.04万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1233658&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Enhancement; Vertical; Elements

The objective of this collaborative project is to explore the potential of ureolytic calcite precipitation as a practical means of improving the capacity of vertical support elements for foundations in sands and silts. Enhancement of vertical elements for foundation support holds promise as the first practical application of biologically induced carbonate precipitation in geotechnical engineering. A key element of the work is exploring the use of agriculturally-derived urease enzyme as the catalyst for calcite precipitation rather than microbially-derived urease employed in all calcite precipitation studies reported to date. The limited extent of the improvement zone required to enhance vertical foundation support elements mitigates problems associated with mass stabilization of soil by induced carbonate precipitation. The use of agriculturally-derived urease can further mitigate some of the problems encountered in mass stabilization and extend the range of soils that can be stabilized by induced carbonate precipitation into the silt-sized particle range. The primary broader impact of this project is associated with the development of a practical application of bio-mediated ground improvement. Developing a practical application for this technology (bio-mediated carbonate precipitation) is a potentially transformative accomplishment, accelerating the development of biogeochemical ground improvement techniques and motivating further innovative developments in the emerging field of biogeotechnical engineering. Extending the applicability of bio-mediated carbonate precipitation into the silt-sized particle range would also have, in and of itself, a broad impact on both the broad field of geotechnical engineering and the emerging sub-discipline of biogeotechnical engineering. The project will also make contributions to training and education of geotechnical professional through support of graduate student research assistants and, in particular, through training and education of new researchers knowledgeable and competent in the techniques and procedures employed in biogeotechnical engineering that are not usually employed in traditional geotechnical research.

该合作项目的目标是探索尿素分解方解石沉淀的潜力，作为提高沙子和淤泥地基垂直支撑元件能力的实用方法。 增强基础支撑的垂直元件有望成为生物诱导碳酸盐沉淀在岩土工程中的首次实际应用。 这项工作的一个关键要素是探索使用农业来源的脲酶作为方解石沉淀的催化剂，而不是迄今为止报道的所有方解石沉淀研究中使用的微生物来源的脲酶。 增强垂直基础支撑元件所需的改进区域的有限范围减轻了与诱导碳酸盐沉淀引起的土壤质量稳定相关的问题。 使用农业来源的脲酶可以进一步缓解质量稳定中遇到的一些问题，并将可通过诱导碳酸盐沉淀稳定的土壤范围扩大到淤泥大小的颗粒范围。 该项目的主要广泛影响与生物介导的地面改良的实际应用的开发有关。开发该技术（生物介导的碳酸盐沉淀）的实际应用是一项潜在的变革性成就，可加速生物地球化学地面改良技术的发展，并推动生物地球技术工程新兴领域的进一步创新发展。将生物介导的碳酸盐沉淀的适用性扩展到淤泥尺寸的颗粒范围本身也将对岩土工程的广泛领域和生物岩土工程的新兴子学科产生广泛的影响。 该项目还将通过研究生研究助理的支持，特别是通过对新研究人员的培训和教育，为岩土工程专业人士的培训和教育做出贡献，这些新研究人员了解并胜任生物岩土工程所采用的技术和程序，而传统岩土工程研究中通常不采用这些技术和程序。