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An integrated method for the rapid dewatering and solidification/stabilization of dredged contaminated sediment with a high water content

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Abstract

To more efficiently treat the dredged contaminated sediment (DCS) with a high water content, this study proposes an integrated method (called PHDVPSS) that uses the solidifying/stabilizing (S/S) agents and prefabricated horizontal drain (PHD) assisted by vacuum pressure (VP). Using this method, dewatering and solidification/stabilization can be carried out simultaneously such that the treatment time can be significantly shortened and the treatment efficacy can be significantly improved. A series of model tests was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results indicated that the proposed PHDVPSS method showed superior performance compared to the conventional S/S method that uses Portland cement (PC) directly without prior dewatering. The 56-day unconfined compressive strength of DCS treated by the proposed method with GGBS-MgO as the binder is 12–17 times higher than that by the conventional S/S method. DCS treated by the PHDVPSS method exhibited continuous decrease in leaching concentration of Zn with increasing curing age. The reduction of Zn leachability is more obvious when using GGBS-MgO as the binder than when using PC, because GGBS-MgO increased the residual fraction and decreased the acid soluble fraction of Zn. The microstructure analysis reveals the formation of hydrotalcite in GGBS-MgO binder, which resulted in higher mechanical strength and higher Zn stabilization efficiency.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support for this investigation was provided by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFC1806000), Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute Open Research Program (Grant No. CKWV2019730/KY), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51678268 and 51878312), and the Hubei Province Postdoctoral Advanced Programs (Grant No. 0106240048). This support is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geotechnical and Underground Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Hefu Pu, Aamir Khan Mastoi, Xunlong Chen, Dingbao Song, Jinwei Qiu & Peng Yang

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Quaid-e-Awam University of Engineering, Sciences and Technology, Sindh, 67450, Pakistan

    Aamir Khan Mastoi

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  1. Hefu Pu
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  2. Aamir Khan Mastoi
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  3. Xunlong Chen
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  4. Dingbao Song
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  5. Jinwei Qiu
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  6. Peng Yang
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Correspondence to Xunlong Chen.

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Highlights

• An integrated method, called PHDVPSS, was proposed for treating DCS.

• The PHDVPSS method showed superior performance compared to conventional method.

• Using the method, water content (%) of DCS decreased from 300 to <150 in 3 days.

• The 56-day UCS from this method is 12–17 times higher than conventional method.

• Relative to PC, GGBS-MgO binder yielded greater reduction in the leachability.

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Pu, H., Mastoi, A.K., Chen, X. et al. An integrated method for the rapid dewatering and solidification/stabilization of dredged contaminated sediment with a high water content. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 67 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1359-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-020-1359-1

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