Soil Biocementation via Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP) Method Employing Soybeans as a Source of Cheap Enzyme

In this work, the soil improvement technique via Enzyme Induced Carbonate Precipitation (EICP) was investigated by employing, as an alternative to expensive pure enzymes, enzymes extracted from agro-food wastes (tomato, apple, and soybean) such that the process is economically viable and fully embraces the concept of the circular economy. The feasibility of the process was evaluated by monitoring calcium carbonate precipitation in a sand sample. The effect of selected operative parameters was investigated during the injection into different grain size sand samples. The optimal operating conditions in terms of sand grain size, temperature, Urea/Calcium concentration were found. Results demonstrated the effectiveness of this alternative solution for EICP method in term of acquired material strength and the possibility to operate sand consolidation through an economically sustainable process.