Ground-Granulated Blast Furnace Slag-Based Geopolymer-Treated Fibrous Peat

Abstract

AbstractPeat is a problematic soil made up of decomposition of plant and animal remains in a waterlogged anaerobic environment. Peat exhibits low strength, high compressibility and high magnitude of creep because of high organic content. The peat is generally treated by conventional binder like cement, responsible for the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the use of geopolymer showing high strength and low CO2 emission has proved the best replacement for a conventional binder. Therefore, this paper presents a study on ground-granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS)-based geopolymer-treated fiber peat. The binder GGBS was used in percentages of 10, 20, and 30% by weight of dry peat. The GGBS was activated by sodium hydroxide (NaOH) with molarities (M) of 6, 9, and 12 with alkali (A) to binder (B) ratio of 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. The test results show that unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of GGBS-based geopolymer-treated peat depends on activator molarity, A/B ratio, curing period, and pH of pore solution. The maximum UCS of treated peat was achieved 200 times more than untreated peat (9.6 kPa) at binder content, molarity, A/B ratio, and Na/Al ratio of 30%, 9 M and 0.7 and 1.8, respectively. Further, it was found that the UCS of treated peat increases with the curing period and fully replaces the conventional binders.KeywordsPeatGGBSGeopolymerStabilizationUCS