Turning soil into sandstone using bacteria may sound like industrial alchemy, but a team of researchers from Murdoch University has achieved it, in the process creating a world-first biocement technology that is attracting global interest.
Turning soil into sandstone using bacteria may sound like industrial alchemy, but a team of researchers from Murdoch University has achieved it, in the process creating a world-first biocement technology that is attracting global interest.
Developed with industry partners Calcite Technology Pty Ltd and Dutch geotechnical engineering institute GeoDelft, the technology uses micro-organisms which, when applied with special nutrients, turns soil into a rock-sold material in-situ within hours.
The process effectively mimics the natural formation of sandstone in a controlled, energy efficient and cost-effective manner, and has significant applications as a soil stabiliser in mining and construction sectors.
Project supervisor and senior lecturer in fermentation biology, Dr Ralf Cord-Ruwisch, told WA Business News the technology emerged from research undertaken since 2000 by PhD students Vicky Whiffen and Salwa Al Thawadi, under his supervision and in collaboration with Calcite director Dr Edward Kucharski.
GeoDelft first showed an interest in the technology in 2003.
“With normal cement you need to mix the cement powder with sand and water, but in creating biocement you don’t mix the sand, you use it as it is in nature,” Dr Cord-Ruwisch said.
Economic and social benefits of this technology were global, with the ground improvement market alone was worth billions of dollars every year, he said.
The university has recently agreed on a joint commercialisation strategy with its partners and anticipates launching the product on the market within three years, once field trials are completed.
The initial target is the soil improvement market but a future expansion into related markets is likely.
Dr Cord-Ruwisch suggested biocement could be used to solidify mine slopes as well as train embankments, airport runways, canal walls and ageing monuments.
Dr Kucharski, who worked at the CSIRO until 2000, said his opportunity to work with Dr Cord-Ruwisch came about when he left the organisation to research a similar cementation system using chemicals.
He formed Calcite in 2002 to continue his work on this project while contributing expertise to the biocement project, which has synergies with his own.
“The bacteria that exists in the ground has active capabilities. If you get the right bacteria, nutrients and conditions you can enhance the soil and produce calcite which is a natural cementing agent,” Dr Kucharski said.
“You can almost determine the strength of the cement by controlling the nutrients you apply…you keep feeding it to continue binding the particles.”
He suggested engineers could change the physical properties of soils to suit their requirements, instead of having to change their designs to accommodate the soil conditions.
The partners plan to embark on field trials in Western Australia and the Netherlands late next year and are seeking federal government seed funding of about $1 million over two years.
Dr Kucharski said the ingredients for the technology were very cheap in comparison to building cement factories and consumed less energy, potentially reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
With its patent pending, the partners are considering changing the name biocement to the more commercially friendly ‘BioGrout’.
