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Bentonite Quantity Calculation

Bentonite slurry is a mixture of bentonite clay and water that is used in construction. It acts as a fluid when being pumped but gains strength and prevents cave-ins when stationary. Bentonite slurry is used to stabilize trench walls during excavation and remove debris. It must be monitored and cleaned during use to maintain effectiveness. Fresh bentonite solution is also used to flush out debris from completed pile bores. Maintaining the proper concentration and specific gravity of bentonite solutions is important for their performance in excavation and construction applications.

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18K views4 pages

Bentonite Quantity Calculation

Bentonite slurry is a mixture of bentonite clay and water that is used in construction. It acts as a fluid when being pumped but gains strength and prevents cave-ins when stationary. Bentonite slurry is used to stabilize trench walls during excavation and remove debris. It must be monitored and cleaned during use to maintain effectiveness. Fresh bentonite solution is also used to flush out debris from completed pile bores. Maintaining the proper concentration and specific gravity of bentonite solutions is important for their performance in excavation and construction applications.

Uploaded by

Pritha Das
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Bentonite slurry and its uses

This is a mixture of bentonite and water. Bentonite is a type of montmorillonite* clay


with a very high liquid limit. This means that even if a lot of water is added to it,
the mixture does not lose its stability or consistency.
Bentonite slurry has a very important property which makes it very useful in
construction: when a slurry of this type is mixed without there being any variation in
water it loses strength, behaving like a fluid. However, it regains this strength when it
is left to stand.
The main use of bentonite slurry is connected with excavation. When digging a trench
(drilling into ground of low consistency with a risk of collapse, normally to build walls
or piles), bentonite slurry stops the sides of the trench caving in.
While the trench is being dug, it is filled up with slurry: as it is constantly moving, it
has little consistency and behaves like a fluid. However, when stirring stops, the
viscosity of bentonite slurry increases and it gains the necessary strength to stop the
walls of the excavation falling in under pressure.
In excavation work it also often serves to remove detritus from the ground. This is
done by constantly recirculating the bentonite slurry.

Handling bentonite slurry


As the slurry picks up particles of materials in different sizes from the ground, some
of its features need to be monitored while it is in use, such as density, viscosity and
sand content; so that it can continue to do its job it must be kept ‚pure‛ in terms
of its water medium. This means replacing dirty bentonite with new material several
times during work. Bentonite slurry can be dehydrated on site or by an outside waste
management company. In both cases press filters are used for drying out and
separating end product from water.
The result of this separation is an end product made up on the one hand of dry
bentonite with solids from the excavation and on the other of water with little or no
contamination. The efficiency of the filtering process will depend on the right choice of
filter cloth.

Concentration of bentonite.
Maintenance of the specific gravity of bentonite suspension between 1.05 to 1.12 is
very important for retention of the vertical cut soil surface of pile borehole. If the
specific gravity of the bentonite suspension is less than 1.05, the developed
cohesiveness and surface tension thereof amongst the soil particles of the surface soil
will be reduced resulting collapse of the vertical cut soil surface. The specific gravity
(between 1.05 to 1.12) of bentonite solution shall be maintained depending on the
cohesion factor of the soil. For less cohesive soil, the specific gravity of bentonite
solution should be more to prevent collapse of soil.
To achieve the requisite specific gravity of the bentonite solution, the concentration of
bentonite is calculated as under:

γs = 1 + 0.006 x Cs
Where ‘γs’ is the density of the bentonite suspension &
‘Cs’ is the concentration of bentonite by weight.
‘Concentration of bentonite’ means percentage of bentonite (by weight), to be mixed
with potable water to get requisite density / Sp.Gr. of bentonite solution.
So, Cs = 1/6 x ( γs – 1 ) x 1000 .………….(7)
For example, required Sp.Gr. of the bentonite suspension = 1.05
Cs= 1/6 x (1.05 ” 1) x 1000 = 8.33 % by weight.

i.e. In 1 m3 of water 83.3 kg bentonite shall be mixed to get 1.05 Sp.Gr. of the
bentonite solution.

FLOW SYSTEM OF BENTONITE SUSPENSION DURING PILE BORING


There are two stages of use of bentonite suspension in cast-in-situ vertical bored
piles.
“ For making pile bore, bentonite suspension of specific gravity between 1.05 to
1.12 is to be maintained.

“ After completion of pile boring, for cleaning of the bored pile bottom and
flushing of the contaminated bentonite solution in the borehole, fresh bentonite
solution of specific gravity between 1.10 to 1.12 is to be used.
To economize the use of bentonite, the over-flowed bentonite solution from the pile
bore during boring is collected through a temporary channel by gravity and stored in a
tank, called ‘Contaminated Bentonite Tank’. The bored muck mixed with bentonite
suspension is collected in this tank and after a lapse of time the bored muck is
precipitated and the rejuvenated bentonite solution is calmly overflowed and collected in
another adjacent tank, which is called ‘Rejuvenated Bentonite Tank’. To maintain
requisite specific gravity of this rejuvenated bentonite solution and to continue boring
operation in pile with this rejuvenated bentonite solution, either matured bentonite jelly
or fresh bentonite solution will be mixed time-to-time with this rejuvenated bentonite
and agitated or re-circulated for homogeneity. To eliminate calcium ions, generated
from cement slurry, and accumulated in the rejuvenated tank, special additives like
‘Phosphates’ and ‘Sodium Hydroxide’ may be used.
On completion of pile boring upto the requisite depth, the bore is flushed with fresh
bentonite solution of proper Sp.Gr. The flushing operation has got two activities:

“ To clean the dredged loose soil from the bottom of the pile bore, fresh
bentonite solution is pumped into the bore hole. This bottom loose muck
cleaning should be ensured by collecting slurry from the pile bottom using a
slurry sampler and comparing the specific gravity with the fresh bentonite
solution, being pumped into the pile bore.
“ The bentonite solution remaining in the borehole, after completion of boring of
the pile, contains huge dredged muck in suspended condition. This suspended
muck precipitates after a lapse of time, which is very harmful for the pile. The
suspended muck, mixed with bentonite solution, therefore, is required to be
flushed out and replaced by fresh bentonite solution to avoid any significant
sedimentation at the borehole bottom. This flushing operation can also be
ensured by comparing the specific gravity with the fresh bentonite solution,
being pumped into the pile bore from fresh bentonite tank.
Such flushing / cleaning of muck from pile bottom and muck-mixed bentonite solution
from pile bore is operated with fresh bentonite solution of higher specific gravity in
view of maintaining stability of the borehole side soil surface by virtue of electric
double layer.
For flushing operation, separate ‘Fresh Bentonite Tank’ is constructed. Fresh bentonite
solution shall be prepared by feeding matured bentonite jelly, with requisite
concentration, in to the tank to achieve required specific gravity of the fresh bentonite
solution.
The matured bentonite jelly shall be prepared by thoroughly mixing sodium based
bentonite powder with potable water in proper concentration and allowing this mixed
solution to be undisturbed for minimum 12 hours to form jelly. This matured bentonite
jelly is poured into the fresh bentonite tank and mixed with potable water to prepare
fresh bentonite solution. Fresh bentonite solution must be well agitated by re-circulation
system or by agitator, prior to pumping it to the pile borehole for flushing, as
because the bentonite solution, if not agitated, will get formation of jelly due to
thixotropic properties. The jelly turns to fluid in effect of agitation. As well as agitation
in the bentonite solution is required to maintain the homogeneity of the solution. The
agitation of fresh bentonite solution shall have to be continued while this solution is in
use.
The commencement of pile boring shall be done with this fresh bentonite solution,
until sufficient quantity of rejuvenated bentonite is collected or accumulated in the
rejuvenated tank for continuing the boring of the pile.
A flow diagram is given in Fig-5. indicating the flow of bentonite solution for boring
and flushing of the pile.

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