Sustainable stabilization/solidification of arsenic-containing soil by blast slag and cement blends.

Li JS

Li JS(1), Chen L(2), Zhan B(3), Wang L(4), Poon CS(5), Tsang DCW(6).
Author information:
(1)State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430071, China; IRSM-CAS/HK PolyU Joint Laboratory on Solid Waste Science, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
(2)Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
(3)Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Durability for Marine Civil Engineering, Shenzhen Durability Center for Civil Engineering, College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China.
(4)Institute of Construction Materials, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Germany.
(5)Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; IRSM-CAS/HK PolyU Joint Laboratory on Solid Waste Science, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: [Email]
(6)Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: [Email]

https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129868

Arsenic (As) is a naturally occurring trace element that may pose a threat to human health and the ecosystem, while effective remediation and sustainable reuse of As-containing soil is a challenge. This study investigated the geoenvironmental characteristics of a geogenic As-rich soil, and green binders (ground granulated blast slag (GGBS) and cement blends) were employed for the stabilization/solidification (S/S) of the soil under field-relevant conditions. Results indicate that the use of 10% binder could effectively immobilize As and chemical stabilization/physical encapsulation jointly determined the leaching characteristics of the S/S soils. The geogenic As could be effectively immobilized at the pH range of 5.5-6.5. The increasing use of GGBS enhanced the strength of the 28-d cured S/S soils because of long-term pozzolanic reaction, but also slightly improved the As leachability. Besides, the moisture content of the contaminated soils should be suitably adjusted to allow for desirable compaction of S/S soils, which resulted in high compressive strength and low of As leachability. Results show that soil moisture content of 20% was the most appropriate, which resulted in the highest strength and relatively lower As leaching. In summary, this study presents a sustainable S/S binder for recycling As-contaminated soil by using a combination of cement and GGBS.