Abstract
Oil leakage is an environmental issue unnoticed in the present time. The problem of oil leakage and oil contamination is main concern for petroleum harvesting countries. Oil contamination in soil creates health issues in the area surrounding it. The nutrients in the soil get reduced significantly due to oil contamination which makes the land not suitable for cultivation. The oil produces hydrocarbons which makes the civil structures weak and out at risk. The most harmful effects of oil contamination are excessive settlement of structures, breakage of underground pipes, etc. In this project, we are trying to study the effects of oil contamination in the soil and also to find a sustainable solution for it. The soil is contaminated in the percentage from 0 to 20% and the tests on index and engineering properties have been conducted to find the effect of engine oil. In order to stabilize the oil contaminated soil, we use silica fumes as a stabilizing agent. The optimum percentage of silica fume is chosen based on the tests of Index and Engineering properties conducted on the soil with silica fumes. The percentage of oil where the soil properties need stabilization is known and the soil is stabilized with the optimum silica fume percentage.
Highlights
Large and heavy structures need a good foundation to carry the loads acting upon them
The engine oil obtained was of grade 20W - 40 which is commonly used for motor vehicles and was found to have a specific gravity of 0.91and silica fumes used for the work are commercially obtained densified silica fumes of specific gravity 2.10
The liquid limit for the soils mixed with varying percentages of silica fumes and oil contaminated soils have increased from 31.5% of virgin soil to 40% and 36% respectively
Summary
Large and heavy structures need a good foundation to carry the loads acting upon them. Before the designing of loads, initially it is made sure that the site is suitable for construction, based on the index and engineering properties of the soil. Due to scarcity of available land nowadays, there arises a need for stabilizing the soil to attain the required properties. One such common problem encountered on soil nowadays is the disposal of waste oil into the open lands, which causes soil contamination and deterioration of the natural soil properties. In order to reduce the effects of oil contamination on soil,we used silica fumes as a stabilizing agent. When the oil contaminated soil was stabilized with silica fumes, we observed that it improved the properties of soil. Silica fume is an admixture mainly used in concrete as a replacement for fly ash, to attain better strength compared to the one with fly ash
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