Investigating the Potential of Xanthan Gum for Aeolian Erosion Mitigation

Abstract

Aeolian erosion is a serious geotechnical concern specifically in erosion prone regions such as deserts. The adverse geotechnical concerns include exposure of substructures to extreme weather conditions, interruptions in highways and railways services caused due to accumulation of transported sediments and uprooting of the utility poles. The recent studies, motivated towards the ecological sustainability, have explored various tools for improving the geotechnical properties of erodible soils such as vegetation, Biopolymers and Microbial induced Calcite precipitation (MICP). In this study, we investigated the effect of Xanthan gum on the erosion prone desert soil of Thar region. In the first part, fundamental geotechnical characterization of the soil was conducted followed by erosion characteristics of this soil via wind tunnel test. In the next phase, biopolymer Xanthan gum was sprayed at different concentrations (0.125, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 g/l) at the surface of shallow (3 cm depth) cylindrical specimens of diameter 28 cm and its influence on the erosion characteristics of the soil was examined. Our results showed that the critical detachment velocity of soil, which is an indicator of the resistance of Aeolian erosion, increased twofold (>200%) with a single dose of Xanthan Gum at the percentage of 0.25 g/l on the soil. This study concludes that Xanthan gum has immense potential to mitigate soil erosion in a sustainable way. Further studies need to be conducted on the effect of curing and thermal cycle on the durability of Xanthan Gum to alleviate Aeolian erosion.