Engineering property test of kaolin clay contaminated by diesel oil

Abstract

Engineering property of kaolin clay contaminated by diesel oil was studied through a series of laboratory experiments. Oil contents (mass fraction) of 4%, 8%, 12%, 16% and 20% were selected to represent different contamination degrees, and the soil specimens were manually prepared through mixing and static compaction method. Initial water content and dry density of the test kaolin clay were controlled at 10% and 1.58 g/cm3, respectively. Test results indicate that since part of the diesel oil will be released from soil by evaporation, the real water content should be derived through calibration of the quasi water content obtained by traditional test method. As contamination degree of the kaolin clay increases, both liquid limit and plastic limit decrease, but there’s only a slight increase for plasticity index. Swelling pressure of contaminated kaolin clay under confined condition will be lowered when oil-content gets higher. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the oil-contaminated kaolin clay is influenced by not only oil content but also curing period. Increase of contamination degree will continually lower UCS of the kaolin clay specimen. In addition, electrical resistivity of the contaminated kaolin clay with given water content decreases with the increase of oil content. However, soil resistivity is in good relationship with oil content and UCS. Finally, oil content of 8% is found to be a critical value for engineering property of kaolin clay to transit from water-dominated towards oil-dominated characteristics.