Biopolymer treatment of filter sand for improving base-filter compatibility: laboratory investigations

초록

This study investigates the impact of biopolymer treatment on the filtration of small sand particles (base sand) through the soil medium with relatively high particle sizes (filter sand) through laboratory experiments. The filter sand treated with five types of biopolymers (xanthan gum, guar gum, agar gum, chitosan, and zein) and four biopolymer concentrations (0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 1%) was prepared to investigate the best-performing biopolymer and optimal treatment concentration in mitigating filtration of base sand particles. It was found that the filter sand without biopolymer treatment showed a fraction of filtration = 7.83% of the base sand during the injection. In contrast, substantial mitigation of filtration was observed after biopolymer treatment for all biopolymer types and treated concentrations (fraction of filtration < 3% for all experimental conditions). Among five biopolymer types, agar gum showed the highest treatment efficiency and the mitigation of base sand loss. In addition, the similar mass fraction of filtrated base sand particles at biopolymer concentration > 0.1% observed in this study demonstrated that low treated biopolymer concentration can provide substantial reduction of basefilter incompatibility. The results indicate the potential of biopolymer-treated filter sand to improve base-filter compatibility under the laboratory conditions.

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