Journal of Green Engineering, Vol.9 2,291-301, Alpha Publishers This is an Open Access publication. © 2019 the Author(s). All rights reserved.

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a

Sustainable Alternative

1S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila, 2 Austin T. Sabu, Sija Arun3

Abstract Stabilization of soil can be done by using natural and waste materials instead of synthetic materials for sustainable development which will reduce the impact on the environment. This research paper deals about the experimental study on the stabilization of soil using organic waste and coir fibres of varying lengths. The organic waste taken into consideration was eggshell powder. Basic properties of virgin soil like Atterberg’s limits, Unconfined compressive strength , compaction characteristics, California bearing ratio, were determined. The soil samples were treated with varying percentages of eggshell powder and the optimum percentage of eggshell powder for the stabilization soil was determined. The CBR and UCC values showed a considerable increase in strength attainment due to the presence of Calcium Oxide in the eggshell powder. The soil was then treated with an optimum percentage of eggshell powder and varying percentages of coir fibres of different lengths (L=1cm, 1.5cm). It was observed that the soil showed considerable strength improvement with the combination of eggshell powder and coir fibre than that with eggshell powder alone. The effective use of locally available materials like eggshell powder and coir fibres and their experimental combination for the improvement of soil makes the study relevant and feasible.

Keywords: Eggshell powder (ESP), Coir Fibres(CF), Atterbergs limits, CBR, UCC.

1Assistant Professor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India.E-mail: rebekahsharmila@gmail.com 2Assistant Professor, St.Joseph College of Engineering and Technology, Pala, IndiaE-mail: austinsabu93@gmail.com 3Assistant Professor, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, India.E-mail: sijaarun08@gmail.com

Journal of Green Engineering (JGE)

Volume-9, Issue-2, August 2019

292 S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila et. al.

1 Introduction Soil stabilization is the process of extending the suitability of soil at the work site for the intended construction purpose. Soil stabilization involves the effective use of various stabilizing agents for the improvement of weak soils. Expansive soil deposits create problem to engineering structures because of their property to expand during the wet season and shrink during the dry season. Clayey soil that mainly consists of montmorillonite mineral is commonly known as expansive soil. In India, this soil covers an area of more than 3,00,000 square miles and constitute about 20% of the total area. Environmental issues over recent time have forced the man to make use of waste materials as alternatives to conventional materials for soil stabilization. This kind of usage is environmentally and economically attractive as it can overcome their disposal problems and are locally available also. Chicken eggshell is a waste product from hatcheries, poultries and food hubs [1]. The eggshell powder can be used as the best alternative for the lime treatment as its chemical properties are similar to that of industrial lime [2]. Along with the organic wastes, coir fibre is also included for stabilization studies. Coir fibre is cheap, locally available and eco-friendly [3]. The inclusion of readily available coir fibre along with egg shell powder helps to improve the properties of soil. In the context of sustainable development, the effective use of waste materials and locally available materials helps to reduce the high degree of dependency on conventional traditional stabilizers and thus, solid waste disposal issues can be managed properly [4].

2 Materials and Methodology 2.1 Soil Sample

In the experimental study, the soil sample was collected from Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu and it lies at latitude 11.7387° N and longitude 78.9608° E. The soil samples were collected at a depth of 1m from the ground surface. The soil was greyish black in appearance.

2.2 Eggshell powder Eggshells were collected from a hatchery in Perumbavoor, Kerala and were dried in sunshade for 24 hours. An industrial grinder was used to grind the egg shell to obtain fine powder and further, it was sieved through the 425�. Eggshell powder primarily contains CaO (99.83%) and the remaining consists of Al2O3, SiO3, Cl, Cr2O3, MnO , and Cu2O.

2.3 Coir Fibre

Coir fibres were collected from Erode, Tamil Nadu. The length of fibre ranges from 50 – 200 mm. It was cut into 1cm and 1.5cm length to get uniform length for the experiments. The diameter of coir fibres was determined by using micro gauge by randomly taking from the bunch of fibres. The diameter of coir fibre was found to be in the range of 0.1mm to 0.2 mm.

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a Sustainable Alternative 293

3 Methodology

The soil samples taken were air dried and pulversied. Various laboratory tests were conducted on virgin soil sample as per Indian Standards to determine the engineering properties of soil. The tests on virgin soil sample include the free swell index, specific gravity, Atterberg's limits, standard Proctor compaction, California bearing ratio(CBR), Unconfined compressive strength test (UCC). The soil sample was mixed with varying percentage (5,10,15,20 and 25%) of eggshell powder and the strength characteristics (CBR, UCC) were determined. The optimum percentage of eggshell powder that brings the ideal improvement for the soil sample was determined. Based on the test results the optimum percentage of eggshell powder was fixed as 10%. Beyond 10% the values of CBR and UCC values decreases. To find the strength characteristics (CBR, UCC) of soil treated coir fibre and egg shell , varying percentage of coir fibres (0.5,0.75,1,1.25,1.5%) were added with optimum percentage of egg shell powder. The experiment was repeated with different lengths (L=1cm,1.5cm) of coir fibre to determine the effect of length of coir fibre on the CBR and UCC values of treated soil sample.

4 Results and Discussion

The soil properties of the virgin soil sample were determined and is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Virgin soil properties

4.1 Effect of eggshell powder on CBR and UCC values The soil sample under study was treated with varying percentages of eggshell powder (5,10,15,20,25%) and its effect on the CBR and UCC values were determined. The maximum CBR and UCC values of 8.83% and 173.67 kN/m2 were obtained for soil treated with 10% eggshell powder. The CBR and UCC value of virgin soil was 5.71% 124 kN/m2. The CBR and UCC values attain a peak at addition of 10 % eggshell powder and further addition of eggshell powder resulted in a decrease in values. Thus, it can be concluded that addition of 10% of eggshell powder as the optimum percentage required for ideal soil improvement for the soil. The calcium content in the chicken eggshell though in a lesser amount as compared to industrial

S.No Description Symbols Results

1 Free swell FI 72.5% 2 Specific gravity G 2.81 3 Liquid limit wL 56.5% 4 Plastic Limit wP 32.5% 5 Plasticity index IP 24 6 Shrinkage Limit wS 3.78% 7 Maximum dry density (g/cc) γd max 1.50 8 Optimum moisture content OMC 20% 9 CBR value CBR 5.71% 10 UCC value (kN/m2) qu 124 11 Soil classification CH

294 S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila

lime plays a major role in providing the desired strength to the soil. The gradual formation of cementitious compounds (calcium silicate hydrate) is the reason for initial increase in the UCC values. The decrease in the UCC values after getting the optimum value was due to the excess eggshell powder that occupies spaces within the soil and it makes weak bostrength improvement by the addition of eggshell powder indicates its importance as a stabilizing agent and opens an area of study for further investigations. The CBR and UCC results for the soil trepresented in Table 2. The Load vs Penetration graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 1 and the Stress vs Strain graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 2.

Table 2.

Varying percentages of eggshell powder

Figure

Fig

100

150

200

250

load

kg

S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila et. al.

lime plays a major role in providing the desired strength to the soil. The gradual itious compounds (calcium silicate hydrate) is the reason for

initial increase in the UCC values. The decrease in the UCC values after getting the optimum value was due to the excess eggshell powder that occupies spaces within the soil and it makes weak bonds between the soil and the cementitious compounds. The strength improvement by the addition of eggshell powder indicates its importance as a stabilizing agent and opens an area of study for further investigations. The CBR and UCC results for the soil treated with varying percentages of eggshell powder are presented in Table 2. The Load vs Penetration graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 1 and the Stress vs Strain graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 2.

Table 2. CBR and UCC results for soil treated with ESP

Varying percentages of eggshell powder

CBR (%)

qu (kN/m2)

5% 6.75 142.44

10% 8.83 173.67

15% 7.79 160.98

20% 7.27 147.69

25% 5.19 134.02

ure 1. Load vs Penetration graph for soil treated with ESP

Figure 2. Stress vs Strain graph for soil treated with ESP

0

50

100

150

200

250

0 5 10 15

Penetration mm

Soil +5% ESP

Soil +10% ESP

Soil +15%ESP

Soil +20% ESP

Soil +25% ESP

lime plays a major role in providing the desired strength to the soil. The gradual itious compounds (calcium silicate hydrate) is the reason for

initial increase in the UCC values. The decrease in the UCC values after getting the optimum value was due to the excess eggshell powder that occupies spaces within the

nds between the soil and the cementitious compounds. The strength improvement by the addition of eggshell powder indicates its importance as a stabilizing agent and opens an area of study for further investigations. The CBR and

ated with varying percentages of eggshell powder are presented in Table 2. The Load vs Penetration graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 1 and the Stress vs Strain graph for the soil treatment is shown in Fig 2.

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a Sustainable Alternative 295

4.2 Effect of optimum eggshell powder with coir fibre(L=1cm) on CBR and UCC values

To investigate the effect of the combination of materials on the strength parameter of the soil, a typical combination of optimum eggshell powder with varying percentage of coir fibre ie, 0.5%, 0.75 %, 1%, 1.25% and 1.5% were taken into consideration. The length of the fibre is limited to 1 cm. It was observed that the maximum CBR and UCC values were observed at the addition of optimum eggshell powder (10%) with 1.25% coir fibre for a curing period of 3,7,14 days. The CBR value increased from 10.87% for 0 days to 11.82% for 14 days of curing period. This increase in strength was attributable by the interlocking of the coir fibre with the soil matrix and also by the calcium content in the eggshell which offered strong bonding with the soil particles. The CBR results for soil treatment are presented in Table 3 and the variation in CBR values is shown in Fig 3.

Table 3. CBR results for soil treated with optimum ESP and varying percentage of CF (L=1cm)

Optimum ESP with varying % of CF (L=1cm)

CBR %

Without

curing

3 days

curing

7 days

curing

14 days curing

0.50% 9.05 9.34 9.56 9.92

0.75% 9.48 9.70 10.21 10.58

1% 10.21 10.65 10.80 11.16

1.25% 10.87 11.24 11.60 11.82

1.50% 9.41 10.07 10.36 10.65

Figure 3. Variation of CBR values for soil treated with optimum ESP with CF (L=1cm)

The UCC value of soil sample treated with optimum eggshell powder and 1.25% of coir fibre increased with increase in the curing period. The UCC value increased from 265.04 kN/m2 at without curing to 350.06 kN/m2 at 14 days of curing. It shows a percentage increase of 32.07% in UCC values. The UCC results of soil treatment are presented in Table 4 and the variation in UCC values with varying curing days is shown in Fig 4.

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

CB

R %

% Coir Fibre

Without curing

3 days curing

7 days curing

14 days curing

296 S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila et. al.

Table 4. UCC results for soil treated with optimum ESP and varying percentage of CF (L=1cm)

Optimum ESP with varying % of CF

(L=1cm)

qu kN/m2

Without curing 3 days

curing

7 days

curing

14 days

curing

0.50% 212.16 273.76 288.22 308.62

0.75% 231.38 280.64 299.99 320.23

1% 249.50 283.32 321.64 341.63

1.25% 265.04 295.16 326.60 350.06

1.50% 214.19 265.70 289.50 303.99

Figure 4. Variation of UCC values for soil treated with optimum ESP with CF (L=1cm)

4.3 Effect of optimum eggshell powder with coir fibre(L=1.5cm) on CBR and UCC values

The strength characteristics (CBR,UCC) of soil treated with optimum eggshell powder and varying percentage of coir fibre were determined for another length of the fibre which is 1.5 cm . It was observed that the maximum CBR and UCC values were observed at the addition of optimum eggshell powder (10%) with 1.25% coir fibre for a curing period of 3,7,14days. The maximum CBR value of 10.94% was observed at an addition of 1.25% coir fibre to the soil-eggshell mix at curing period of 14 days. The CBR results for soil treatment are presented in Table 5 and the variation in CBR values is shown in Fig 5.

Table 5. UCC results for soil treated with optimum ESP and varying percentage of CF (L=1.5cm)

Optimum ESP with varying % of CF

(L=1.5cm)

CBR %

Without curing 3 days curing 7 days curing 14 days curing

0.50% 8.61 8.97 9.19 9.48

0.75% 9.19 9.27 9.56 9.78

1% 9.48 9.70 10.14 10.36

1.25% 9.92 10.21 10.72 10.94

1.50% 9.05 9.12 9.41 9.63

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

qu

kN

/m2

% Coir Fibre

Without curing

3 days curing

7 days curing

14 days curing

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a Sustainable Alternative 297

Figure 5. Variation of CBR values for soil treated with optimum ESP with CF (L=1.5cm)

The UCC value of soil sample treated with optimum eggshell powder and 1.25% of coir fibre increased with increase in the curing period. The UCC value increased from 213.61 kN/m2 at without curing to 282.47 kN/m2 at 14 days curing. The UCC results for soil treatment are presented in Table 6 and the variation in UCC values with varying curing days are shown in Fig 6.

Table 6. UCC results for soil treated with optimum ESP and varying percentage of CF (L=1.5cm)

Optimum ESP with varying % of CF

(L=1.5cm)

qu kN/m2

Without curing 3 days

curing

7 days

curing

14 days

curing

0.50% 177.88 211.99 228.91 249.79

0.75% 185.48 220.17 246.59 258.31

1% 200.19 230.58 263.08 266.60

1.25% 213.61 246.76 273 282.47

1.50% 176.25 210.07 226.60 237.31

Figure. 6 Variation of UCC values for soil treated with optimum ESP with CF (L=1.5cm)

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

CB

R %

% Coir Fibre

Without curing

3 days curing

7 days curing

14 days curing

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

260

280

300

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

qu

kN

/m2

% Coir Fibre

Without curing

3 days curing

7 days curing

14 days curing

298 S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila et. al.

4.4 Effect of length of coir fibres on UCC and CBR

UCC and CBR tests were conducted for soil treated with optimum eggshell powder and varying percentages of coir fibre of varying lengths 1cm and 1.5cm. The inclusion of coir fibre of length 1cm was found to be superior in strength characteristics than that of length 1.5 cm. The UCC and CBR results for soil treated with optimum eggshell powder with coir fibre (L=1,1.5cm) at without curing are shown in Fig 7 and Fig 8 respectively.

Figure 7. Variation of CBR value with varying lengths of CF

Figure 8. Variation of UCC value with varying lengths of CF

5 Conclusion

The CBR and UCC value for the virgin soil sample was found to be 5.71% and 124 kN/m2 respectively.

Addition of 10% ESP gives an increment of about 54.6 % and 39.5 %. in CBR and UCC values.

The CBR and UCC values showed an increment of 107% and 182 % when the soil was treated with 10% ESP and 1.25% of coir fibre, when the length of the fibre was limited to 1 cm. And the maximum strength obtained at 14 days of curing.

With 1.5 cm length of the coir fibre under the same conditions the CBR and UCC showed an increase of 91.6% and 127.8%. It indicates that as the length of the fibre increases the strength decreases.

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

CB

R %

% Coir Fibre

Soil + 10% ESP + CF (1cm)

Soil + 10% ESP + CF (1.5cm)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75

qu

kN

/m2

% CF

Soil + 10% ESP + CF (1cm)

Soil + 10% ESP + CF (1.5cm)

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a Sustainable Alternative 299

It can be observed that as the length increases, the fibre-fibre interaction dominates over the fibre-soil interaction and reduces the effect of interlocking.

In view of sustainable development, the waste materials like eggshell powder and natural fibres like coir fibres can be used as a standard stabilizer which is economical as well as a solution to waste management crisis.

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Biographies

Mrs S.Mary Rebekah Sharmila is currently working as Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur-603203, Chennai. She has completed M.E in Soil Foundation Engineering from Anna University, Chennai. She has 10 years of teaching experience. Her area of interest is soil stabilization, Fibre reinforced soil.

Austin T. Sabu. I hail from Palai, Kottayam Dist., Kerala. I did my B.Tech in Civil Engineering from St. Joseph's College of Engineering and Technology, Palai in 2015. Thereafter, I completed my M.Tech in Geotechnical Engineering from SRM University in 2017. Presently from June 2017 onwards, I am working as Assistant Professor (Department of Civil Engineering) in St. Joseph's College of Engineering and Technology, Palai. I work in the field of academics where I utilize my passion to empower young minds with necessary knowledge, skills, qualities and attitude

Experimental Study on the Stabilization of Soil using Eggshell Powder and Coir Fibres as a Sustainable Alternative 301

Mrs.Sija Arun is currently working as an Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur-603203, Chennai Mrs.Sija Arun completed M.Tech in Environmental Engineering from Calicut University, Kerala. She has 10 years of teaching experience. Her area of interest is wastewater treatment especially in removal of micro pollutants.