An environmentally friendly soil improvement technology for sand and dust storms control
Journal Title: Environmental Health Engineering and Management Journal - Year 2019, Vol 6, Issue 1
Abstract
Background: Dust storms occur when unchecked, strong, or turbulent winds combine with exposed loose and dried soil surfaces. Sand and dust storms have a significant impact on society, economy, and environment at local, regional, and global levels. The environmental and health hazards of such storms cannot be permanently reduced, however, by taking appropriate measures, its impact can be reduced. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of microbial precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as a biocompatible agent on soil stabilization and control of dust storms using urease-producing bacteria (UPB) as a biological improvement technique, which were isolated, identified, sprayed on the soil surface. Methods: For this purpose, the erosion of bio-cemented soil samples was investigated experimentally in a wind tunnel under the condition of wind velocity of 0 to 98 km.h-1 in two soil types with sandy and silty texture in a completely randomized design with three replicates. Results: The investigation of the threshold wind velocity of soil particles showed that soil particles began to move at velocity of 8 and 10 km.h-1 in silty and sandy soils, respectively, but in all biological samples (MICP), particles did not move until the wind speed reached 97 km.h-1. It was also revealed that the weight loss of all MICP-treated samples at different wind velocities was significantly reduced compared to the control group. Differences in the amount of soil loss among bio-cemented samples and control treatments were even superior at higher velocities, so that at velocities more than 57 km.h-1, soil losses increased significantly in the control group, while in soils treated with bacteria, soil loss was very low (about 2.5 kg.m-2.h-1). Comparison of the bacteria used in this study also showed that Bacillus infantis and Paenibacillus sp3 had high efficiency in controlling dust storms. Conclusion: The formation of abrasion-resistant surface layers on soil samples treated by bio-cementation showed that cementation by biological methods could be an effective way to stabilize surface particles and control sand and dust storms.
Authors and Affiliations
Sareh Rajabi Agereh , Farshad Kiani , Kazem Khavazi , Hassan Rouhipour , Farhad Khormali
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP45326
- DOI 10.15171/EHEM.2019.07
- Views 497
- Downloads 0
Sonochemical degradation of azithromycin in aqueous solution
Background: The presence of pharmaceutical substances and their residual in water resources is an important environmental concern. Azithromycin, an antibiotic that is used for the treatment of infectious diseases, is a p...
Anaerobic co-digestion of landfill leachate and sewage sludge: Determination of the optimal ratio and improvement of digestion by pre-ozonation
Background: Anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) of various wastes is a suitable method for the removal of contaminants and biogas production. The first aim of this study was to determine the optimal ratio of landfill leachat...
Risk assessment of noise pollution by analyzing the level of sound loudness resulting from central traffic in Shiraz
Background: Today, the effects of environmental pollution on human life and human needs, which reduces the level of community health caused by traffic noise in large cities, are clearly visible by creating irritation and...
Removal of major nutrients by sono-direct and sono-alternate current electrocoagulation process from domestic wastewater
Background: Electrocoagulation is becoming a promising eco-friendly wastewater treatment technique. It is a low-cost wastewater treatment method suitably applied for various wastewater effluent characteristics. Neverth...
Measurement of ampicillin and penicillin G antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study in Isfahan
Background: In recent years, the world has faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a significant increase in the use of antibiotics to control the COVID-19 and other secondary infections. The nonbiodegradable cha...