Application of Heat of Wetting for Determination of Soil-Specific Characteristics of Fine-Grained Soils

Abstract

Abstract Conventionally, particle size distribution characteristics and consistency limits have been used to characterize fine-grained soils. However, these schemes of soil characterization are devoid of several other soil-specific parameters (viz., specific surface area, specific gravity, weight loss during heating, heat produced during the interaction of soil with water, chemical and mineralogical composition, zeta potential, cation-exchange capacity, and reactivity) that imbibe in them physical, chemical, mineralogical, and thermal characteristics or, in short, the “overall characteristics” of the soil. These characteristics are also useful to define soils with pollutants and contaminants, which result from rapid and indiscriminate industrialization. Hence, characterization of the soil based on its “heat of wetting,” which imbibes the specific characteristics of the soil and is measured by the percentage increase in temperature (PIT) when soil-water interaction occurs, appears to be quite prudent and a novel idea or hypothesis. With this in view and to develop a soil characterization scheme, soils of completely different characteristics were allowed to interact with water in a calorimeter, and the PIT was measured precisely by employing a thermocouple. The PIT and various soil-specific parameters when correlated with each other yielded well-defined relationships. Utility of these relationships for a quick and easy characterization of fine-grained soils has also been demonstrated in this study.