Impacto geotécnico de los derrames de diésel en suelos finos
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Rodríguez Cuervo, Lady Sofía | 2017
Currently the growth of the world population has led to increased consumption of oil
and its derivatives, which have become massive refineries, transport networks,
storage facilities and fuel sales all increase the likelihood of spills. These effusions
hydrocarbons generated by gravity and capillary forces to move vertically and
horizontally through different soil layers. Then the question arises: ¿what happens
in the geotechnical properties and the mineralogical composition of the fine soils
when it is contaminated of diesel?
It is a question that many authors have realized in the world but that needs to
continue the line of research, in the case of Colombia area a few investigations. The
research centred on studying four (4) types of fine soils which corresponded to clays,
and methodology of experimentation was based on an exploratory phase and
subsequently, the experimental phase carried out based on the literature review
where was allowed a time of exposition to hydrocarbon of one week. Diesel was
chosen as hydrocarbon because it is the main fuel that is handled in Colombia and
have the lowest risks of manipulation in the laboratory. To give answer the research
question involved the realization the laboratory tests to determine moisture content,
specific gravity of solids, Atterberg limits, resistance to unconfined compression and
analysis of mineralogy with X-ray diffraction (XRD), method of dust, of the control
samples and samples with treatment of 1%, 3% and 6% of diesel with respect to the
dry weight of the samples.
The results of the research have shown the uncertainty in the geotechnical
properties of the soils used in experimentation by the interaction that they had with
diesel. The moisture content increase, although the expression of its calculation is
questionable; the specific gravity of the solids and the resistance to unconfined
compression decreased; and the Atterberg limits have an indefinite behavior due to
the presence of diesel and it is calculated as a moisture content. The mineralogical
composition and classification (USCS) of the experimental units were not affected
by the presence of diesel.
In brief, this research found changes in the geotechnical properties of the
experimental units with presence of diesel, and let the approach of future research
based on the results obtained.
LEER