Characterization of Clay Soil and Zolite Powder as Materials for the Production of Irrigation Porous Pipes

Abstract

The uses of clay pipes in irrigation water management are becoming popular, especially in arid and semi-arid soils. The study examined clay and zeolite materials for irrigation pipes, and this paper reported characteristic properties of these materials. Hydrometer, pychnometer and core sampler methods were for soil physical properties determination. Consistency tests using (Atterberg method) and analytical techniques (Scanning Electron Microscopy, SEM and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, EDS) for samples analyses. The results indicate the soil to contain 11 % sand, 34 % silt and 55 % clay fractions and texturally classified as clay with a particle density of 1.58 g/cm3 and bulk density 2.43 g/cm3 respectively. Addition of zeolite at 3:1 clay/zeolite mix ratio shows liquid limit (LL) and plastic (PL) values to decreases from 50.7% to 43.7% and 27.6% to 27.3% while plasticity index, (PI) change from 23.2 to 16.7 respectively. The shrinkage rate decreases from 11.67% for raw clay to 8.92 % for the treated sample. The EDS analysis shows both clay and zeolite samples to contain carbon, silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) as the major constituents with ferric oxide (Fe2O3), potassium oxide (K2O) and cobalt (Co) as the minor constituents. The major constituents contribute 89.26 and 94.4% while minor contribute 10.74 and 5.59 % in clay and zeolite samples. Modifying clay improved its workability, reduces cracking potential and absorption capacity and performance of porous clay pipes.