Enzyme-catalysed mineralisation experiment study to solidify desert sands

Abstract

AbstractSandstorms are meteorological phenomena common in arid and semi-arid regions and have been recognized severe natural disasters worldwide. The key problem is how to control and mitigate sandstorm natural disasters. This research aims to mitigate their development by improving surface stability and soil water retention properties through soil mineralization. The enzymatic induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) is proposed to solidify desert sands and form a hard crust layer on the surface of desert sands. In contrast to micro-induced carbonate precipitation commonly used at room temperatures, EICP had high production efficiency and productivity at a broader temperature range (10–70 °C ±) and significantly improves material water retention properties, which was more suitable to desert environment. Results demonstrate that the enzyme-catalysed mineralisation method can be better resistance to high winds as the number of spraying times increased.