Direct Injection of Aluminum-Organic Matter Flocs to Reduce Soil Permeability and Create a Vertical Flow Barrier in Situ

Journal Article (2022)
Author(s)

Jianchao Zhou (TU Delft - Geo-engineering)

S. Laumann (TU Delft - Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics)

TJ Heimovaara (TU Delft - Geoscience and Engineering)

Research Group
Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
Copyright
© 2022 Jianchao Zhou, S.J. Laumann, T.J. Heimovaara
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002886
More Info
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Publication Year
2022
Language
English
Copyright
© 2022 Jianchao Zhou, S.J. Laumann, T.J. Heimovaara
Research Group
Applied Geophysics and Petrophysics
Issue number
11
Volume number
148
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Abstract

This study presents a novel geotechnical engineering approach that utilizes naturally occurring processes to reduce soil permeability in-situ. This approach is inspired by a soil stratification process (Podzolization), where a low permeability layer is formed by metal-organic matter precipitates. In a field experiment, a direct aluminum-organic matter (Al-OM) floc injection was applied to create a continuous vertical flow barrier in a dike. Direct injection uses the shear-dependent size of Al-OM flocs. High-shear conditions (i.e., during injection) lead to the breakage of Al-OM flocs and thus allow their transportation in soils. When the injection stops and low-shear conditions prevail, the Al-OM flocs re-grow in size and block the pores, which ultimately reduces soil permeability. Two different Al-OM floc concentrations were applied in the field. Results show that a continuous flow barrier is only formed at lower concentrations; at higher concentrations a scattered permeability reduction was achieved. This demonstrates the viability of this approach in reducing soil permeability in-situ and shows that the spatial distribution of the flocs depends on input concentration.