SOIL STABILIZATION USING LIGNIN AND BIO-ENZYMES

SIT1 AIM1 NADIA BINTI MOHD YUSOFF

A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the

requirement for the award of the Degree of

Master of Civil Engineering

Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

APRIL 2015

ABSTRACT

Common stabilization techniques for soils to improve strength and durability

properties often rely on cement, lime, fly ash, and asphalt emulsion. Stabilization of

soil with terrazyme and lignin is a very new method to improve the geotechnical

properties of the soil. Terrazyme are liquid additives, which act on the soil to reduce

the voids between soil particles and to minimize the absorbance of water to the soil

particles to maximize compaction. The effectiveness of terrazyme and lignin depends

on the types of soil and the amount of stabilizer used. In this present study, the

effectiveness of terrazyme and lignin in stabilizing the different types of soils was

investigated through laboratory investigations. Each of the additives tested were

designed to mix with the soil to improve the texture, increase strength and reduce swell

characteristic. Laterite, kaolin and peat were used as the base soil to investigate the

geotechnical properties and treated with variable enzyme dosages. The results

presented herein were analyzed in terms of Unconfmed Compressive Strength (UCS)

testing. The strength parameter of the stabilized soil has been evaluated after curing

periods of 0,7, 15,21 and 30 days. Changes in California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value

were monitored after mixing the soil with 2% and 5% additives. The laboratory tests

showed, for laterite the higher dosage of both lignin and terrazyme gave higher

maximum dry density (MDD) and decreased the optimum moisture content (OMC).

Meanwhile for kaolin and peat, both additives did not produced significant effect on

both the MDD and the OMC. Then for strength properties, 2% lignin and terrazyrne

showed the best improvement in strength tests over a 30-day curing period. The CBR

value for stabilized laterite were founded that terrazyme gave a higher CBR value than

lignin. Meanwhile for kaolin, 2% terrazyme gave the higher CBR value among other

treated kaolin. Lastly for peat, 2% dosage of lignin and terrazyme were found

effective, after gave a higher CBR value. But, after comparing stabilized peat and

kaolin with the control sample, it can be concluded that lignin and terrazyme is not

suitable to use for stabilizing peat and kaolin.

Keyword: Laterite, Kaolin, Peat, Terrazyme, Lignin, Unconfined Compressive Test,

California Bearing Ratio

vii

ABSTRAK

Teknik penstabilan tanah menggunakan bahan tambah seperti simen, kapur,

fly ash, dan asfalt emulsi sering digunakan untuk kaedah penstabilan tanah.

Penstabilan tanah dengan terrazyme dan lignin adalah satu kaedah yang sangat baru

dan dapat meningkatkan ciri-ciri geoteknik tanah. Terrazyme adalah bahan tambah

cecair, yang bertindak ke atas tanah untuk mengurangkan lompang di antara zarah-

zarah tanah dan mengurangkan kadar serapan air pada zarah tanah untuk

memaksimumkan pemadatan. Keberkesanan Terrazyme dan Lignin bergantung

kepada jumlah bahan tarnbah yang digunakan. Di daIam kajian ini, keberkesanan dua

bahan tambah dalam menstabilkan tanah telah diuji melalui ujian makmal. Dua jenis

bahan tambah yang digunakan daIam kajian ini ialah Terrazyme dan Lignin. Setiap

satu daripada bahan tambahan diuji dengan mencampurkan bahan tambah tersebut

bersama dengan tanah untuk meningkatkan tekstur, meningkatkan kekuatan. Laterite,

kaolin dan tanah gambut telah digunakan sebagai tanah asas untuk mengkaji ciri

geoteknikal. Keputusan yang dibentangkan di sini dianalisis dari segi Ujian Terkurung

Mampatan (UCT). Kekuatan parameter tanah yang stabil telah dinilai selepas

pengawetan tempoh 0, 7, 15, 21 dan 30 hari. Perubahan Nisbah Galas California

(CBR) juga dinilai selepas mencampurkan tanah dengan 2% dan 5% bahan tambah.

Keputusan ujian pemadatan menunjukkan untuk tanah laterite, dos yang lebih tinggi

daripada lignin dan terrazyme memberikan keturnpatan kering maksimum yang lebih

tinggi (MDD) dan kandungan lembapan optimum telah berkurang (OMC). Sementara

itu, bagi kaolin dan tanah gambut, kedua-dua bahan tambahan tidak menghasilkan

kesan yang besar ke atas MDD dan OMC. Kemudian untuk sifat-sifat kekuatan , 2 %

lignin dan terrazyme menunjukkan peningkatan terbaik dalarn ujian kekuatan untuk

tempoh 30 hari tempoh pengawetan. Nilai CBR untuk laterit yang di stabilkan oleh

terrazyme memberikan nilai CBR yang lebih tinggi daripada lignin. Sementara itu,

bagi kaolin , 2 % terrazyme memberikan nilai CBR yang lebih tinggi daripada 2%

lignin,2% terrazyme dan 5% terrazyme. Akhir sekali untuk tanah gambut , 2 % dos

lignin dan terrazyme didapati berkesan , selepas memberikan nilai CBR yang tinggi.

Tetapi, selepas membandingkan keputusan ujian CBR tanah gambut dan kaolin

dengan sarnpel kawalan, dapat disimpulkan bahawa lignin dan terrazyme tidak sesuai

digunakan untuk menstabilkan tanah gambut dan kaolin .

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