Temperature Effect on Alkali Contaminated Kaolinitic Clays

Abstract

It is well understood that the swelling behavior of alkali contaminated kaolinitic clays is mainly influenced by mineralogical and morphological changes. However, complete mineralogical changes occur over a long period of time due to slow reaction rates at normal temperatures or field contamination conditions. The long term effects of alkali on kaolinitic clays can be simulated by increasing the reaction rate through carrying the studies at elevated temperatures. The present study focused on understanding the effect of temperature (35, 60, 80 and 110 °C) on mineral dissolution and new mineral formations of alkali contaminated kaolinitic clays. Further, the obtained results were compared with the mineralogy changes observed in soil samples after interacting with alkali for a long period (60 days) in laboratory at normal temperature of about 27 °C, considering the field contamination condition. It is clear from the XRD and SEM studies that a complete change in morphology was observed when exposed to higher temperatures.