• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 2022

Soybean-urease induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), as an alternative to microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), was employed for soil improvement. Meanwhile, soluble calcium produced from industrial waste carbide slag powder (CSP) via the acid dissolution method was used for the EICP process. The ratio of CSP to the acetic acid solution was optimized to obtain a desirable calcium concentration with an appropriate pH. The calcium solution was then used for the sand columns test, and the engineering properties of the EICP-treated sand, including unconfined compressive strength, permeability, and calcium carbonate content, were evaluated. Results showed that the properties of the biocemented sand using the CSP derived calcium solution were comparable to those using the reagent grade CaCl₂. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that spherical vaterite crystals were mainly formed when the CSP-derived calcium solution was used. In contrast, spherical calcite crystals were primarily formed as the reagent grade CaCl₂ was used. This study highlighted that it was effective and sustainable to use soluble calcium produced from CSP for the EICP process.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.707-714
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• 2013

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICCP) is a naturally occurring biological process that has various applications in remediation and restoration of a range of building materials. In the present investigation, five ureolytic bacterial isolates capable of inducing calcium carbonate precipitation were isolated from calcareous soils on the basis of production of urease, carbonic anhydrase, extrapolymeric substances, and biofilm. Bacterial isolates were identified as Bacillus megaterium, B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, B. subtilis, and Lysinibacillus fusiformis based on 16S rRNA analysis. The calcium carbonate polymorphs produced by various bacterial isolates were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, X ray diffraction, and Fourier transmission infra red spectroscopy. A strain-specific precipitation of calcium carbonate forms was observed from different bacterial isolates. Based on the type of polymorph precipitated, the technology of MICCP can be applied for remediation of various building materials.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.51-57
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• 2012

The purpose of study is to understand the possibility of biogrout of soil induced by bacteria. Microbial Calcium Carbonate Precipitation(MCP) has been analysed using the microorganism Bacillus Pasteurii. In order to understand the biogrout of soft ground treated with microbial calcium carbonate precipitation, four types of specimens(sterilization soil, non-sterilization soil, reaction solution and microorganism solution with pre-treatment mix and reaction solution and microorganism solution with post-treatment mix) were made. Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM), EDX and X-ray diffraction(XRD) analyses were performed on the soft ground specimens. On the basis of the preliminary results, it appears that microbial treatment methods using calcium carbonate precipitation may be possible to improve property of biogrout.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.649-663
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• 2014

In past few years, the use of bacterial calcium carbonate precipitation (biocementation) has become popular as a ground improvement technique for sandy soil. However, this technique was not applied to organic soil. This study focused on bacterial calcium carbonate precipitation and its effect on permeability in organic soil. A special injection system was prepared for inducing bacterial solution to the samples. The bacterial solution supplied to the samples by gravity for 4 days in specific molds designed for this work. Calcite precipitation was observed by monitoring pH value and measuring amount of calcium carbonate. Change in the permeability was measured before and after biocementation. The test results showed that the pH values indicates that the treatment medium is appropriate for calcite precipitation, and amount of precipitated calcium carbonate in organic soil increased about 20% from untreated one. It was also found that the biocementation can be considered as an effective method for reducing permeability of organic soil. The results were supported by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis and energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.39-47
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• 2021

Recently, the enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) technique has been considered as one of the alternatives to the cement-based soil reinforcing method. However, the problem with the emission of ammonium ion has not been solved. In this study, an experimental study on the EICP without releasing an environmental contaminant (Ze-EICP) is performed using calcium-exchanged zeolite. The results show that the Ze-EICP using calcium-exchanged zeolite reduced the amount of ammonium ions by 96.96% and precipitated almost the same amount of calcium carbonate, compared to the EICP using calcium chloride. In addition, the Ze-EICP shows higher strength improvement rate than the EICP due to densification of zeolite and cementation of calcium carbonate.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.465-473
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• 2019

Biocementation due to the microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) process is a potential technique that can be used for soil improvement. However, the effect of biocementation may be affected by many factors, including nutrient concentration, bacterial strains, injection strategy, temperature, pH, and soil type. This study investigates mainly the effect of chemical concentration on the formation of calcium carbonate (e.g., quantity, size, and crystalline structure) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) using different treatment time and chemical concentration in the biotreatment. Two chemical concentrations (0.5 and 1.0 M) and three different treatment times (2, 4, and 8 cycles) were studied. The effect of chemical concentrations on the treatment was also examined by making the total amount of chemicals injected to be the same, but using different times of treatment and chemical concentrations (8 cycles for 0.50 M and 4 cycles for 1.00 M). The UCS and CCC were measured and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was carried out. The SEM images revealed that the sizes of calcium carbonate crystals increased with an increase in chemical concentrations. The UCS values resulting from the treatments using low concentration were slightly greater than those from the treatments using high concentration, given the CCC to be more or less the same. This trend can be attributed to the size of the precipitated crystals, in which the cementation efficiency increases as the crystal size decreases, for a given CCC. Furthermore, in the high concentration treatment, two mineral types of calcium carbonate were precipitated, namely, calcite and amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC). As the crystal shape and morphology of ACC differ from those of calcite, the bonding provided by ACC can be weaker than that provided by calcite. As a result, the conditions of calcium carbonate were affected by test key factors and eventually, contributed to the UCS values.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.7-16
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• 2023

This study aimed to evaluate the sulfate removal capacity of the enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) technique through the chemical precipitation of sulfate with calcium ions. The optimal EICP recipe was obtained to retain the excess calcium cations in the solution for the generation of a sufficient amount of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) mineral. The effect of gypsum precipitation on the EICP-treated sand specimen was investigated by measuring the shear wave velocity and by visual inspection via scanning electron microscopy. The EICP solution using soybean crude urease, as an alternative to laboratory-grade purified urease, exhibited a lower sulfate removal efficiency at a similar CaCO₃ production rate compared with the optimal EICP recipe because of soybean impurities.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.166-170
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• 2000

Amorphous calcium carbonate was prepared by wet chemical method and performed the control of their shape using crystalline calcium carbonate that prepared from oyster shell by the $CO_2$ gas blowing method. As a result, amorphous calcium carbonate was obtained by the dissolution process of crystalline calcium carbonate in the dil-HC1 solution, mixing of sodium carbonate solution, precipitation and filtering with high speed. And using the amorphous calcium carbonate of mud type, crystalline calcium carbonates with cubic, needle, spindle, spherical and plate shape were obtained in the temperature rang of 2~$85^{\circ}C$ and reaction time range of 5~60 minute.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.540-548
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• 2016

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (CCP) is a long-standing but re-emerging environmental engineering process for production of self-healing concrete, bioremediation, and long-term storage of CO₂. CCP-capable bacteria, two Bacillus strains (JH3 and JH7) and one Sporosarcina strain (HYO08), were isolated from two samples of concrete and characterized phylogenetically. Calcium carbonate crystals precipitated by the three strains were morphologically distinct according to field emission scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry mapping confirmed biomineralization via extracellular calcium carbonate production. The three strains differed in their physiological characteristics: growth at alkali pH and high NaCl concentrations, and urease activity. Sporosarcina sp. HYO08 and Bacillus sp. JH7 were more alkali- and halotolerant, respectively. Analysis of the community from the same concrete samples using barcoded pyrosequencing revealed that the relative abundance of Bacillus and Sporosarcina species was low, which indicated low culturability of other dominant bacteria. This study suggests that calcium carbonate crystals with different properties can be produced by various CCP-capable strains, and other novel isolates await discovery.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.219-222
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• 2004

Removal characteristics of Mn and Co was studied from the contaminated solutions via surface reaction with various calcium carbonate (calcite). Synthetic calcium carbonates which has different surface morphology as well as surface areas were prepared by a spontaneous precipitation method and used. Mn and Co removal behavior by the different solid surface demonstrate characteristic sorption behaviors depend on the type of calcite used, such as surface area or surface morphology. Calcium carbonate crystals (mostly calcite) which exhibit complicated surface morphology (c-type) shows strong sorption affinity for Mn and Co removal via sorption than on the a-type or b-type calcite crystals of less complicated surfaces. The applicability of two kinetic models, the pseudo-first-order kinetic equation and the Elovich kinetic model was examined on these sorption behavior. Elovich kinetic model was found more suitable to explain the very early stage adsorption kinetics, while the pseudo-first-order kinetic equation was successfully fitted for the adsorption kinetics after 50 hours.