30–31 Oct 2026
Virtual
Africa/Accra timezone

Evaluation of Bio-Induced Crust Formation in Silty Sand for Sustainable Wind-Induced Erosion Mitigation Using Bacillus Thuringiensis

Not scheduled
20m
Virtual

Virtual

WAIC SC Participer à la réunion Zoom https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81453226682?pwd=v4S7lSYGeiib7zobth6ftNEN0GTX7V.1 ID de réunion: 814 5322 6682 Code secret: 992952

Speaker

Prof. Adrian Oshioname Eberemu (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria)

Description

Wind erosion remains a critical environmental challenge in arid and semi-arid regions, leading to soil degradation, health issues and reduced land productivity. This study evaluates Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) as a bio-mediated technique for enhancing the surface strength of silty sand to mitigate wind-induced erosion. Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from silty sand was employed as the ureolytic bacterium. Soil specimens were treated using bacterial suspensions standardized to McFarland densities 0, 0.5, 2, 4, 6, and 8 standards (i.e., 0, 1.50 × 108, 6.0 × 108, 1.20 × 109, 1.80 × 109 and 2.40 × 109 cells/ml) blended with cementation reagent concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 M respectively. Strength improvement for the crust developed were quantified using a pocket penetrometer, while calcite content was measured to assess the efficiency of the precipitation process using acid wash method. Results indicate that both bacterial density and cementation concentration significantly influenced crust strength and calcite formation. The optimal treatment 18 × 10⁸ cells/ml and 0.75 M cementation reagent yielded the highest crust strength of 300 kPa, corresponding to the maximum calcite precipitated of 8.1 %. These findings demonstrate that MICP with Bacillus thuringiensis can substantially improve the mechanical integrity of silty sand, highlighting its potential as an environmentally friendly and sustainable method for wind erosion control.

Author

Co-authors

Prof. Adrian Oshioname Eberemu (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria) Bashiru Ibrahim (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria) Prof. Emmanuel Balogun E. (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria) Prof. Ochepo Joshua (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria) Prof. Stephen Thomas Ijimdiya (Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna state, Nigeria)

Presentation materials

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