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Journal of Arid Environments

Journal of Arid Environments 68 (2007) 260270 www.elsevier.com/locate/jnlabr/yjare

Chemical stabilization of mobile duneelds along a highway in the Taklimakan Desert of China
Z. Han, T. Wang, Z. Dong, Y. Hu, Z. Yao
Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertication, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 260, West Donggang Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, Peoples Republic of China Received 27 June 2002; received in revised form 12 May 2006; accepted 17 May 2006 Available online 1 August 2006

Abstract To control the impacts of blown sand on a highway in Chinas Taklimakan Desert, we prepared several liquid polymer stabilizers compatible with the local environment. We evaluated the crushing strength and resistance to wind erosion of four sand stabilizers: LVA (a polyvinyl alcohol emulsion), LVP (a polyvinyl acetate emulsion), WBS (a mixture of water glass and calcium chloride), and STB (a mixture of water glass and urea). The droplet size ranged between 0.2 and 0.5 mm, and viscosity ranged from 12 to 15 Pa s. The stabilizers were noncombustible and after mixing, did not precipitate at temperatures between 10 and 70 1C. The strength of the chemical crust ranged between 1.0 and 12.1 MPa, the weight loss at low temperatures (10 to 20 1C) ranged from 0% to 1.8%, and the strength loss was between 0% and 41.4% after 300 h of ultraviolet irradiation. The erosion rate in a wind tunnel was between 0 and 4 g h1 100 cm2 at wind velocities of up to 25.3 m s1. We also sprayed the stabilizers on 1200 m2 of shifting dunes along a highway in the Taklimakan Desert and produced a strong crust 0.20.5 cm thick. Our results suggest that all the stabilizers exhibited good inltration, crushing strength, and elasticity, and that they could thus be used to control damage to highways caused by blown sand in the Taklimakan Desert. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Chemical stabilizers; Blown sand damage; Desert highway; Taklimakan Desert

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 931 4967542; fax: +86 931 8277169.

E-mail address: hzwen@lzb.ac.cn (Z. Han). 0140-1963/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.05.007

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1. Introduction To speed up prospecting for and development of the oil and gas reserves in the Tarim Basin, China successfully built a high-grade highway that passes through the Taklimakan Desert from north to south in 1995 (Fig. 1). The highway starts from Lunnan, 35 km north of the Tarim River, and extends southwards to connect with State Highway 315 near Minfeng. With a total length of 519 km, the highway passes through 447 km of shifting dune elds starting from Xiaotang in the north (401490 N, 84117.70 E) and continuing to Minfeng in the south (N, E). The highway successively crosses the present ood-alluvial plain of the Tarim River, ood areas from old channels of the river, a zone of simple barchan dunes and barchan dune chains, a zone of dome dunes, and a zone of complex longitudinal megadunes. The highway enters a zone of shifting sand at Xiaotang and stretches southwards along a relief that rises from 940 m altitude near the Tarim River to 1300 m at State Highway 315, an increase of 360 m. The sand that forms the modern aeolian landforms in the region originates from the erosion, transport, and re-deposition of piedmont diluvial-alluvial deposits from the Kunlun Mountains and alluvium from the Tarim River. The regions climate is extremely dry, with an average annual precipitation of less than 40 mm and annual potential evaporation greater than 3000 mm (75 times the precipitation). The regions mean annual temperature ranges between 11 and 13 1C, with an annual range of 50 1C and a diurnal range of 15 1C or more. Natural vegetation is sparse in the desert, and includes 9 families, 12 genera, and 12 species, dominated (50% by species number) by perennial herbs (He, 1997), and is mainly found in depressions between dunes where the water-table nears the surface.

Fig. 1. Geographic location of the desert highway and the Taklimakan desert. 1Barchan dune, 2Reticulate dune, 3Barchanoid ridge, 4Scale-like dune, 5Dome dune, 6Compound dune, 7Compound ridge, 8 Pyramid dune, 9Compound megadune, 10Transverse megadune, 11longitudinal ridge, 12Vegetated dune, 13Yardang, 14Oasis, 15Gobi, 16Mountains, 17Desert highway.

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Fig. 2. An aerial view of the shelter system constructed along the highway that runs through the Taklimakan Desert.

The highway is considered a remarkable achievement in highway construction because of the difculty of controlling the problems caused by drifting sand, which is common in this region (Dong et al., 1997). Supported by the key science and technology project of the state eighth 5-year plan (85-101-07), the builders constructed a 30- to 80-m-wide shelter system along the highway based on the results of laboratory and eld tests. This system mainly consists of roller-compacted, semi-buried checkerboard barriers and upright, porous, sand-blocking fences, both built from natural reeds (Han et al., 2000), and protects the highway from being buried by blown sand so as to ensure normal transportation operations throughout the year (Fig. 2). However, the lack of natural sand stabilization materials (including reeds) in the Taklimakan Desert and surrounding regions has created an urgent need to develop suitable alternative materials capable of maintaining the shelter system. For this reason, several types of chemical sand stabilizers have been developed by the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. These were designed to be compatible with the environmental features of the Taklimakan Desert in which the highway lies. Based on preliminary tests of various indices of the stabilizers, such as their physicochemical properties, crushing strength, and resistance to wind erosion, we selected four kinds of liquid polymer mixtures for additional testing: LVA (a polyvinyl alcohol emulsion), LVP (a polyvinyl acetate emulsion), WBS (a mixture of water glass and calcium chloride), and STB (a mixture of water glass and urea). Field experiments conducted along the highway showed that these stabilizers could effectively stabilize the regions sand. This paper provides a preliminary summary of the experimental stabilization results with LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB along the highway. 2. A brief review of chemical stabilization Research on chemical stabilization of sand dates back to the 1930s. More than a halfcentury of research and practice has shown that chemical stabilizers are particularly

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suitable for the control of shifting sand and the reduction of damage to railways and highways in deserts characterized by mobile sand. Chemical stabilization of sand forms a binding surface crust that conserves soil water beneath the crust, prevents or impedes wind erosion, and stabilizes the sand. Depending on their chemical properties, sand stabilizers can form three types of binding crust: a rigid crust, a exible crust, or an elastic crust. All these crusts have smooth surfaces that protect the sand surface from direct erosion by wind. The combination of several sand control measures, including chemical treatments, biological measures, semi-buried sand fences, and upright sand fences, can effectively control damage from blowing sand. Ideal chemical sand stabilizers should offer good adhesion and rapid inltration of the sand. In general, interstitial spaces about 8 mm in diameter exist between the particles of aeolian sand. When a liquid stabilizer is sprayed on the sand surface, droplets smaller than 8 mm seep into the sand and bind its particles together, whereas droplets larger than 8 mm remain on the sand surface to form a coat and stabilize the sand after consolidation. In addition to simple mechanical adhesive action, the inter-particle binding may involve other complex processes (Cheng, 1991), including the effects of particle electrical properties, functional chemical groups, and intermolecular forces. Consequently, the stabilizers form continuous or discontinuous network structures that bind the sand particles together. As early as 1934, scientists in the former Soviet Union began to study the stabilization of shifting sands with asphalt emulsions. In 1959, they conducted dune stabilization experiments using a polyacrylamide solution in the Kursk region (Babaev, 2001). After 1964, scientists from the Turkmen Desert Institute performed a series of dune stabilization experiments in the laboratory and the eld using K-series chemicals (K-4, K-6, and K-9) and obtained a large amount of data on their inltration rates and depths, the mechanical resistance of the binding crust that resulted from their use, and their resistance to wind erosion (Babaev, 2001). Between 1969 and 1972, researchers conducted shifting-sand stabilization experiments using a chemical called Nerosine, and in recent years have tested butadiene-styrene latex and APM-15 (Babaev, 2001). In the 1950s, American scientists conducted dust control experiments using an emulsion of oil resins called Coherex in the areas surrounding Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of California and the Mercury Nuclear Testing Base in Nevada (Zhu et al., 2000). Scientists from the Weitrman Institute and Cyanidiamide Company developed sand stabilizers such as urea-formaldehyde, urea-dicyandiamide, and polyacrylamide (Zhu et al., 2000). American soil scientists have also tested more than 30 kinds of organic and inorganic materials to control wind erosion (Cheng et al., 1991). In 1963, British scientists tested chemical dune stabilization on Scolt Head Island and in the desert areas of Israel and Australia. In the 1960s, Israeli scientists tested dune stabilization using asphalt emulsions, and using Curasol, Unisol 91, Coherex, Rohagit, and Askar polymer emulsions (Zhu et al., 2000). Other countries, including Germany, Iran, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq, have also conducted dune stabilization experiments using oil and oil products. Since 1980, Chinese scientists have tested dune stabilization using asphalt emulsions (Cheng et al., 1991), sodium silicate (Hu and Zhou, 1991), and PVA, PAM, and PVAc (Cheng et al., 1991) at the Shapotou Desert Research and Experiment Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is located at the southeastern fringe of the Tengger Desert.

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3. Experimental methods and equipment We determined the size distributions of the sand stabilizer droplets using a light microscope and measured their viscosity using a Viscometer-4. Observations of their stability after dilution showed that no precipitation took place at temperatures ranging from 10 to 70 1C. We also determined the crushing strengths of the binding crusts created by the stabilizers using a 30-t materials testing machine. In this test, we manually mixed the chemical stabilizers with dune sand and added the mixture to a cylindrical container to prepare a test sample that was 8 cm in diameter and 10 cm tall. After the sample had completely dried at room temperature, we used the testing machine to measure the crushing strength. We also measured the weight loss of the samples, which provides an indication of the resistance to freeze-thaw cycles, by continuous cycling of the samples between 10 1C and 20 1C in a low-temperature chamber. We measured the resistance of the stabilizers to aging by ultraviolet irradiation for 300 h at, followed by measurement of the resulting strength loss. We measured the resistance of each binding crust to wind erosion in a non-circulating blow-type wind tunnel using sand-laden wind. In these tests, the samples of binding crusts were contained in a 30 30 10 cm wooden tray that was placed at on the oor in the middle of the wind tunnels working section. We set wind velocity at 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, and 23.5 m s1 to observe the variations in rate of erosion as a function of time and wind velocity. We generated sand-laden wind generated by supplying sand from a sand feeder located at the entrance of the wind tunnel. The test lasted 10 h at each wind velocity, and we used three replications to provide a mean value. We used a fresh sample of stabilized sand for each replication.

Fig. 3. The MOUL DED RTC-20 gas-powered pump used to spray the stabilizer.

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Fig. 4. The procedures used in our eld test of the chemical stabilizers. After installing a reed fence to protect the study site from drifting sand: (a) the chemical stabilizer was poured into a large container, (b) the stabilizer was diluted in water (at a concentration of between 1:5 and 1:10 v/v) and stirred, (c) the stabilizer was sprayed onto the sand using the pump in Fig. 3 and (d) we measured the crust thickness twice per day for 5 days.

We carried out eld tests of the four stabilizers that performed best along both sides of the highway from position K292+800 along the road to position K292+900 (Fig. 1). The main equipment used to distribute the stabilizer was a MOUL DED RTC-20 gas-powered pump (Fig. 3). Liquid sand stabilizers were rst diluted with water (at a concentration of between 1:5 and 1:10 v/v, depending on the optimal concentration determined in the laboratory tests) in a 1.5 1 1 m container (Fig. 4a and b). The diluted stabilizer was sprayed uniformly on the sand surface using the pump, with a delivery lift of 28 m and a ow rate of 27 m3 h1 (Fig. 4c). During the spraying process, we kept the spray nozzle at a distance of 11.5 m from the sand surface and chose a spray angle that prevented the formation of pits or hollows on the sand surface. The area sprayed with each stabilizer was about 1200 m2. We installed upright reed fences in front of the sprayed areas to prevent shifting sand from encroaching on the sprayed surface. During the next 5 days, we measured the thickness of the binding crust twice per day (Fig. 4d). 4. Results and discussion 4.1. Experimental evaluation of chemical stabilizers Chemical sand stabilizers include both organic and inorganic substances. For practical purposes, the selected stabilizers must be nontoxic, nonpolluting, adaptable to the climatic and environmental conditions in the area being treated, highly effective, long-lived, and

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inexpensive. Based on these principles, we tested a range of alternatives in the laboratory and selected four synthetic materials with the best performance for subsequent testing in the eld. 4.1.1. Droplet size The droplet size of sand stabilizers is a physical index of their dispersion homogeneity. The results of our study of droplet size are presented in Table 1. The particle sizes of all four stabilizers (LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB) were smaller than 0.5 mm and thus, could easily seep into the pore space in typical aeolian sand. 4.1.2. Viscosity of sand stabilizers The binding strength of a sand stabilizer increases with increasing viscosity, but the inltration rate decreases with increasing viscosity. As a result, highly viscous stabilizers are left at the sand surface to form a thin layer of binding crust. On the other hand, a toolow viscosity leads to a higher inltration rate, which may prevent the formation of a crust with sufciently high binding strength. Hence, proper emulsion dilution of the stabilizer is very important to successfully stabilize the sand. Our laboratory experiments showed that a suitable viscosity for stabilizers used with the sands in the study area is in the range of 1215 Pa s. The measured viscosities of the stabilizers (Table 1) were all suitable on this basis. 4.1.3. Stability of the stabilizers The presence or absence of precipitation is an indicator of a stabilizers stability and of its usable temperature range. Our stability tests showed that LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB did not produce precipitates at temperatures ranging from 10 to 70 1C (Table 1), and therefore ensured that the stabilizers would remain diluted for long enough to complete normal spraying operations in the eld. 4.1.4. Crushing strength of the binding crusts The crushing strength of the binding crusts is an index of the performance of the stabilizers. After air-drying the stabilized samples at ambient temperature for a certain time, we measured the crushing strengths of the binding crusts using the 30-t materials testing machine as described in the Methods section. Our results (Table 2) showed that the crushing strengths of LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB ranged between 1.0 and 12.1 MPa, which regression analysis revealed were signicantly greater than or equal to the general requirement for sand stabilization (a strength of 1.0 MPa).
Table 1 Physicochemical properties of the four sand stabilizers in our study Stabilizer type LVA LVP WBS STB Appearance Creamy white Colorless Colorless Creamy white Dropiet size (mm) 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.2 Viscosity (pa s) 12 15 15 15 Stability (1070 1C) Precipitate-free Precipitate-free Precipitate-free Precipitate-free Combustibility Noncombustible Noncombustible Noncombustible Noncombustible

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Z. Han et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 68 (2007) 260270 Table 2 Mechanical properties of the binding crusts produced by the four stabilizers Stabilizer type Compressive strength (MPa) 1.02.4 2.73.3 3.312.1 1.3 Freezing resistance (weight loss, %) 0 0 0.79 0.91 Aging resistance (strength loss, %) 10.7 0 41.4 39.2 267

LVA LVP WBS STB

4.1.5. Freezing resistance of the binding crusts The resistance of binding crusts to freezing is an index of the performance of the stabilizers in low-temperature environments. In this test, we placed the samples in a lowtemperature chamber and subjected them to 12 continuous cycles between 10 and 20 1C and then conducted the deation experiments in the wind tunnel to determine the weight loss of the binding crusts. The results (Table 2) showed that the weight losses of the LVA and LVP samples were zero, and those of the WBS and STB samples were less than 1%. 4.1.6. Aging resistance of binding crusts In the natural environment, the chemical components of the stabilizers may be greatly changed by solar radiation, oxidation, wind erosion, leaching by rainwater, and other factors. With the passage of time, such environmental factors shorten the life-span of the stabilizers, especially in desert regions as a result of the harsh environmental conditions. The resistance of binding crusts to aging is one way to predict their life-span. Unfortunately, the differences between laboratory conditions and eld conditions mean that aging experiments conducted in a wind tunnel are difcult to reconcile with the results of eld tests. Because the resistance to aging can affect both the stabilizers performance and the stabilization cost, we measured the resistance of LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB to aging by means of ultraviolet irradiation (wave length 340 nm, intensity 50 mW cm2) for 300 h. The measured strength after irradiation is shown in Table 2. The results indicate that of the four stabilizers, LVP had the best resistance, with a strength loss of 0%, and WBS and STB had the poorest resistance, at around 40%. As a whole, these results suggest that each of the four sand stabilizers could meet the requirement of a life-span of 34 years for the control of sand encroachment in the Taklimakan Desert. 4.1.7. Resistance of the binding crusts to wind erosion The resistance of the binding crusts to wind erosion is a key index of stabilizer performance. At present, wind tunnel experiments remain the best method to evaluate this parameter, since the results correlate well with performance in the eld. In our experiment, samples of binding crust were set horizontally on the oor of the wind tunnel and exposed to wind velocities ranging from 5 to 25.3 m s1 for 10 h at each velocity. We measured the erosion rates by weighing each binding crust before and after the test to determine the weight loss due to erosion. These experimental conditions were designed to simulate the wind regimes of the Taklimakan Desert, where the threshold wind velocity for the initiation of movement of dry sand is 5 m s1, and the maximum instantaneous wind

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268 Z. Han et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 68 (2007) 260270 Table 3 Rates of erosion of the binding crusts by wind (R, g h1 100 cm2) Stabilizer type Wind velocity (m s1) 5 LVA LVP WBS STB 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0.1 0 10 0 0 0.2 0.3 15 2.2 0 0.9 0.3 20 3.2 0 2.1 1.2 25.3 3.9 3.1 2.5 1.8

velocity reaches 2023 m s1, and angle of repose of dry aeolian sand is typically 28321. The results of these tests are presented in Table 3. Little or no wind erosion took place when the wind velocity was 5 m s1, but erosion ranged between 0.0 and 0.3 g h1 100 cm2 at a wind velocity of 10 m s1. However, erosion began to increase signicantly when the wind velocity reached 15 m s1. The wind erosion rate at 25.3 m s1 reached 1.7, 1.6, and 1.5 g h1 100 cm2 for the LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB stabilizers, respectively. The binding crusts were affected both by the airow and by the impact and abrasion from high-speed revolving sand grains (with an estimated rotation velocity of 10002000 rotations s1). The impact strength depends not only on the impact velocity of the sand grains but also on their specic gravity. Air density under standard conditions is 1.25 103 g cm3, whereas sand density is 2.65 g cm3. This difference is so great that it sharply increases the erosion intensity of sand-laden wind.

4.2. Field tests of stabilization of shifting sand We performed our eld tests of the four stabilizers roughly midway along the highway, deep in the desert. The environmental conditions at the study site are presented in Table 4. The grain size and other physicochemical properties of the areas aeolian sand are shown in Table 5. The total sprayed area was 1200 m2, and we installed a row of tall, upright, and porous reed sand fence along the upwind edge of the study plots to prevent encroachment by the surrounding sand. During the spraying period, air temperature ranged between 16.9 and 24.5 1C, with a maximum air temperature of 32.3 1C, a minimum air temperature of 8.7 1C, a ground surface temperature of 19.031.2 1C, a maximum ground surface temperature of 61.3 1C, and a minimum ground surface temperature of 0.4 1C. Relative humidity ranged between 23 and 32%. Winds blew primarily from the east and east-northeast (i.e., roughly perpendicular to the highway), with wind velocity ranging between 3.0 and 6.3 m s1 and a maximum wind velocity of 14.0 m s1. On the rst and fth days after spraying, we measured the thickness and appearance of the binding crusts twice per day. The results showed that the binding crust thickness ranged between 0.2 and 0.5 cm (Table 6). The binding crusts were strong enough to withstand the weight of the researchers. Among the binding crusts, LVP was elastic and WBS was hard but fragile. The high air temperature (more than 30 1C at its peak) and ground surface temperature (typically greater than 50 1C) during the spraying period

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Z. Han et al. / Journal of Arid Environments 68 (2007) 260270 Table 4 Environmental conditions at the study site Mean annual temperature (1C) Maximum temperature (1C) Minimum temperature (1C) Maximum sand surface temperature (1C) Annual sunshine (h) Annual precipitation (mm) Annual evaporation (mm) Mean annual wind velocity (m s1) Maximum wind velocity (m s1) Relative humidity (%) Depth to groundwater (m) 13 40 34 80 43000 1660 43000 2.0 23 o10 25 269

Table 5 Sand grain size and physicochemical properties at the study site Grain-size distribution of surface sand (%) 1.61.0 mm 0.40 Clay content (%) 1.00.5 mm 6.40 Apparent density (g cm3) 1.45 0.50.25 mm 19.06 Maximum water absorption (%) 12 0.250.074 mm 70.74 pH o0.074 mm 3.40 Soluble salt content (%) 0.035

5.56

Table 6 The thickness, strength, and appearance of the four binding crusts during the eld tests Stabilizer type Spraying amount (kg m2) 1.0 0.8 1.0 1.2 Thickness of the binding crusts (cm) 0.40.5 0.20.5 0.30.5 0.30.5 Strength and appearance of binding crusts

LVA LVP WBS STB

Very hard; able to withstand the weight of the researchers without damage Very hard, exible; able to withstand the weight of the researchers without damage Very hard, but fragile, with a few cracks Hard enough to support the weight of the researchers

caused rapid evaporation of the stabilizer solutions sprayed on the sand surface, and this resulted in a few cracks. 5. Conclusions (1) The natural environmental conditions along the highway in the Taklimakan Desert are very harsh, and the natural materials available for the stabilization of shifting sand are generally lacking, therefore it is necessary to use chemical stabilizers to stabilize the

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sand. Our laboratory experiments revealed that four sand stabilizers (LVA, LVP, WBS, and STB) appeared to be ideal materials for this application, and could be used to replace the semi-buried reed grids used in the existing sand control system. (2) Field experiments proved that these stabilizers were able to form a binding crust rapidly, and that the binding crusts were sufciently strong to stabilize the sand. Hence, chemical stabilization of sand is a suitable means to control sand damage to the highway. (3) The four sand stabilizers in our study are nontoxic, nonpolluting, easy to spray, and suitable for use in a mechanized spray operation. (4) To improve the effectiveness of the sand stabilization, spraying of the chemical sand stabilizers should occur under optimal weather conditions, with a wind velocity below 8.0 m s1, a maximum temperature below 30 1C, and a minimum temperature above 5 1C. Acknowledgments This research was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of China (40571015 and 40472144). References
Babaev, A.G., 2001. Shifting sand stabilization in Deserts of Soviet Union (translated by Hu, M.C.), China Ocean Press, Beijing, pp. 104115. Cheng, D.Y., 1991. Study of shifting sand stabilization with polymers. Research of shifting sand control (2), Ningxia Peoples Publishing House, Yingchuan, pp. 349357. Cheng, D.Y., Zhao, X.L., Kang, G.D., 1991. Experiment and research of shifting sand stabilization with asphalt emulsion. Research of shifting sand control (2), Ningxia Peoples Publishing House, Yingchuan, pp. 335358. Dong, Z.B., Chen, G.T., Han, Z.W., 1997. Sand drift damages to oil-transporting highway in Tarim Desert. Environmental Science 18 (1), 49. Han, Z.W., Yao, Z.Y., Shao, G.S., 2000. Approaches to several problems concerning sand control system of Tarim Desert highway. Arid Land Resources and Environment (2), 3540. He, X.D., 1997. Investigation of natural vegetation in the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert. Journal of Desert Research 17 (2), 414418. Hu, Y.D., Zhou, J., 1991. Experiment and research of shifting sand stabilization with sodium silicate. Research of shifting sand control (2), Ningxia Peoples Publishing House, Yingchuan, pp. 358365. Zhu, Z.D., Zhao, X.L., Lin, Y.Q., 2000. Sand control engineering. China Environmental Science Press, Beijing, pp. 117135.