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The paper was published in the proceedings of the 9th

International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics
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Proceedings of the 9ICEG
9th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics
25-28 June 2023 | Chania, Greece
© Authors: All rights reserved, 2023
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICEG2023-434

Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged

sediments using shell powder

R. Petti1, C. Vitone2, M. Plötze3 and A. Puzrin4

1
Post-doc Researcher, Politecnico di Bari, DICATECh, Bari, Italy, e-mail: [email protected]
2
Associate Professor, Politecnico di Bari, DICATECh, Bari, Italy, e-mail: [email protected]
3
Senior Researcher, ETH-Zurich, Institut für Geotechnik, Zürich, Switzerland, e-mail: [email protected]
4
Professor, ETH-Zurich, Institut für Geotechnik, Zürich, Switzerland, e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

In port management and construction of port infra-structures, the deepening the seabed makes it
necessary to dispose large quantities of dredged sediments. This problem is considerable not only in
Italy: about 150 million m3 of sediments are dredged every year in Europe. Both the national and
international legislative framework, therefore, encourage the reuse, recycling, and recovery of dredged
materials, even when contaminated, after adequate check and decontamination treatments. This
scenario favours the scientific and technological research in the transformation of sediments from waste
to environmental resource and several recent contributions aim to define scientifically based approaches
for a systematization of sustainable reuse processes. This study is part of this context and entails
experimental research that aims to contribute to open novel perspectives in this field, with applications
for industrial interest. The results show the effects of the use of traditional binders for the treatment of
fine-grained dredged sediments in comparison with greener solutions where part of the binder’s content
has been replaced by mussel shell powder. The note shows the results of the effects of these treatments
on both the index and microstructural properties of the sediments.

Keywords: environmental geotechnics, dredged sediments, index properties, microscale, laboratory

tests, geotechnical properties, shells, hydraulic binders, soil treatment.

1 INTRODUCTION

New strategies aiming to transform waste into novel by-products for other industrial applications are
necessary to promote the sustainable use of resources. This principle, inspired by the fundamentals of
the circular economy, is crucial in a world where the demand for resources is increasing exponentially
to support continued economic and social growth and can be applied to various fields of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, including the management and reuse of marine sediments. Marine
sediments are dredged periodically (in Europe about 150 million m3 /year) in harbour areas either for
the port effectiveness or the site remediation (SedNet, 2011).

In this context, several research studies in geotechnical engineering entail the mechanical treatment of
sediments by commercial cements and lime (Federico et al., 2015; Chang et al., 2007). Cements are
the most widely used materials in the building industry (according to the WWF, concrete production
could reach 5 billion tonnes by 2030) but they are also among the most harmful since concrete
production process requires large amounts of energy and releases pollutants. For this reason, in the
most recent years, novel strategies have been proposed making use of more sustainable binders that
reduce the CO2 emission and comply with the so called green new deal (Latifi et al., 2018; Roque et al.,
2022; Paleologos et al., 2022). This note is part of this research, and it reports some results about an
experimental study comparing standard solutions for the treatment of sediments and novel ones making
use of lower content of binders in favour of the use of green additives. These original additives have
been obtained by recycling mussel shells.

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

The shells are a biowaste currently produced in large quantities in Europe (i.e., about 550.000 tons in
the past few years; FAO, 2023) and dumped in landfills with complex and expensive disposal
procedures. The need to find out new strategies to minimise such waste is also demonstrated by the
number of studies aiming to promote their reuse for more applications, i.e., from the cosmetic to the
fertiliser industry and as natural additives to traditional binders (Papadimitrious et al., 2017; Morris et al.,
2019; Paz-Ferreiro et al., 2012; Uster et al., 2014). However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge,
there are no studies presented so far making use of not calcinated shell powder in partial replacement
of cements for the geomechanical treatment of sediments.

The main aim of this study is to present a solution for the mechanical improvement of dredged sediments
by reusing shells, i.e., another waste of marine origin. Such solution could be valuable not only for the
in-situ stabilisation of the sediments after dredging but also to realise new products (e.g., outdoor paving
eco-bricks, breakwaters, embankments) from the new material obtained by mixing sediments, shell
powder and cements. In the following, some laboratory results of microstructural and geotechnical tests
carried out on dredged sediments treated with shell powder in partial replacement of different types of
cements are presented. Moreover, experimental results of the same sediments when treated with just
cements are also shown for comparison.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Dredged sediments

Ports, lakes, and semi-enclosed water bodies require continuous dredging of sediments to guarantee
proper navigation levels and to preserve the aquatic ecosystem (DelValls et al., 2004). Therefore,
millions of tons of dredged sediments are generated worldwide every year (Mymrin et al., 2017) and
their fate is a critical environmental concern. Among the strategies for their sustainable management,
highly encouraged is their reuse as materials for engineering purposes. However, most of them exhibit
extremely poor mechanical properties which make them unsuitable as construction materials in their
current state.
As it commonly happens when dealing with natural soils, intergranular bonding and physic-chemical
condition still affect the material behaviour (Mitchell, 1993; Lee, 2004). However, dredged sediments
may lose their original geotechnical properties while they are being dredged, transported, and
redeposited. Moreover, if the water content is high or increases during remoulding, they behave like a
slurry. Also, high organic content, shells and diatoms, gas bubbles, fibrous materials and pollutants can
affect their behaviour and possible reuse (Klein & Sarsby, 2000; Edil & Wang, 2000; Adamo et al., 2018).
In general, the properties of fine-grained sediments can result highly variable, and their organic content
typically generally spans from 0.4% to 11% (e.g., Shahri & Chan 2015; Ganesalingam et al., 2011; Lee
et al., 2016). Most of them can be classified as CH (i.e., inorganic clay with high plasticity) in the
Casagrande’s plasticity chart. In view of the high complexity of these materials, the investigation of their
composition as well as the characterisation of their physicochemical and geotechnical properties is still
therefore an essential preliminary step towards the identification of the most proper hydro-mechanical
or chemo-mechanical treatments (Vitone, 2019; Rakshith & Singh, 2016; Couvidat et al., 2018; Vitone
et al., 2020, Paleologos et al., 2022; Cotecchia et al., 2022; Tang et al., 2021).

fossil
print

a) b)
Figure 1. Untreated sediments, US: a) photo of the sampling site; b) SEM image.

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

The untreated sediment studied (US, Figure 1a) has been dredged from the port of Taranto, in the south
of Italy. Its microstructure was analysed through scanning electron microscope (SEM) after the freeze-
drying of the samples. The SEM picture in Figure 1b, showing the presence of fossil prints in a random
and chaotic fabric, is quite emblematic of the heterogeneous nature of marine sediments. The
geotechnical characterisation of the dredged sediment presented in the following entails physical and
plasticity properties that were determined according to ASTM standards. The carbon content was
determined by dry combustion (DIN EN 15936) with an Analytic Jena MultiEA4000. Specifically, TOC
was derived as total carbon content minus TIC. More details on the complexity of this natural material
are reported by Sollecito et al. (2022).

2.2 Cements and shells

Three types of cements were used for the present study: from the traditional type I Portland Cement
52.5R (P), to more sustainable commercial binders, such as the type III Termocem green blast furnace
cement (T) and the most recent Sulphoaluminate cement (CS). The latter two hydraulic binders result
from a core process with < 550 kg /t CO2 emissions and at least 30% of pre- or post-consumption
recycled material. In this article, the results obtained using just type I Portland cement (P) and type III
Termocem green blast furnace cement (T) are reported.

The mussel shell powder, MS, is a natural source of biogenic calcium carbonate, i.e., a green additive
which here is reused to partially replace cement for mechanical treatment of dredged sediments. The
shells used in this study are of the Mytilus galloprovincialis type (Figure 2a). For the production of the
shell powder (Figure 2b), the mussel shells underwent the following treatment: i) washing with hot water
for about 10 minutes and oven drying at 105 °C for 48 hours to remove impurities and some organic
matter content (Othman et al. 2013); ii) milling in a Retsch jaw crusher; iii) sieving at 0.063 mm.

0 2 cm

0 2 cm
a) b)
Figure 2. Mussel shells, MS: a) the Mytilus galloprovincialis type of shells used; b) the powder produced.

2.3 Preparation of the mixtures

The experimental programme entailed the comparison between mixtures formed by sediments and T or
P cements and the corresponding mixtures where ¼ of P (or T) cement was replaced by mussel shell
powder, i.e., P, T-shell powder. The content of binders added to the sediment was adjusted according
to the dry weight of the sediment, which was determined from the natural water content of the sediment
(w0= 74.08%). The virgin material was first homogenised in a mechanical mixer for 10 minutes at
medium speed (285 RPM). Subsequently, the binder was added, and the material was further mixed for
5 minutes at lower speed (140 RPM). After 7, 14 and 28 days of curing in marine water, the experimental
programme involved not only the geotechnical characterisation of the mixtures, but also the investigation
of their mineralogy, chemical and geochemical properties and their microfabric. To check the efficacy of

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

the original stabilisation solutions, an intensive experimental programme has been conducted on the
dredged sediments mixed with both traditional and cement-shell binders, for comparison. The chemical
composition of cement and mussel shell powder was performed with XRF analyses. In addition, the
fabric of the treated sediments has been studied by means of SEM analysis on both untreated and
treated sediments samples. For all the tests the Zeiss leo-1530 apparatus was used, and the freeze-
drying method and Tungsten coating were performed for all the sediment samples.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Characterisation of base-materials

3.1.1 Dredged sediments

The untreated sediment (US) is a clayey silt of negative consistency (CI= (wL-w0)/PI= -0.71) that can be
classified as high plasticity soil, CH (USCS, ASTM 2011) (Table 1 and Figure 3). As suggested by both
standards and literature (e.g., BS 1337; Sollecito et al., 2019; Sollecito et al. 2022), the water content w
and the Atterberg limits were corrected to take account of the pore fluid salinity. Moreover, Atterberg
limits have been determined on the total sample, following an unconventional procedure (UP; full square
in Figure 3), instead of on the material passing on the ASTM sieve n. 40, according to the ASTM
procedure (ASTM; empty square in Figure 3). This allowed considering the effect of the presence of
algae and other organic materials that actively interact with the soil particles (e.g., Roque et al., 2022).
In detail, such organic material is essentially represented by algae, and it is retained to the ASTM sieve
n. 40 (photo ASTM procedure in Figure 3).

In detail, Figure 3 shows that, when the limits are determined on the total sample, both liquid limit ad
plasticity index increase (i.e., wL_UP= 53%; PIUP= 28%; wL_ASTM = 46%; PIASTM= 23%), so that the US
passes from being classified as CL to CH soil (USCS, ASTM D2487-17e1). The distance between the
two points in the Casagrande’s plasticity chart is a first quantification of the active role of these organic
fractions in interacting with the clay particles to modify the sediment plasticity. The consistency index of
the sediment is always negative and equal to -0.71 and -1.2 if computed by using either the Atterberg
determinations on the total materials or following the ASTM procedure, respectively. Table 1 also reports
the specific gravity of the soil solid (Gs) and the amount of organic matter measured in US by total
organic carbon (TOC).

The chemical characterisation of the sediment (ISPRA, 2010) showed that heavy metals and organic
pollutants are present in lower quantities than regulations limits (Legislative National Decree 152/06).

Table 1. Physical properties of untreated sediments, US. Key. s: weight of soil solids per unit volume;
SF: sand fraction; MF: silt fraction; CF: clay fraction; TOC: total organic carbon; Gs: specific gravity of
soil solids, w0: natural water content.

Material s SF MF CF TOC Gs w0
[kN/m3] [%]   [%] [-] [%]
US, Untreated 15.95 5.80 63.80 30.40 1.52 2.68 74
sediment
Standard used ASTM D ASTM D422 DIN - ASTM D2216-
854-14 EN15936 D4542

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

Figure 3. Casagrande plasticity chart of marine sediment from the Port of Taranto.

3.1.2 Cements and mussel shell powder

The chemical composition of P and T cement is reported in Table 2. The data show that the principal
components differences in the chemical composition of the cements are the higher percentages of CaO,
Fe2O3 in P and higher percentages of Al2O3, SiO2 and MgO in T.

The particle size distribution of the mussel shell powder used in this study is characterised by D 50 = 6.32
μm and Cu = 2.213. Table 2 shows that chemical composition of the mussel shell powder that, as
expected, is mainly composed by Calcium (53.61 wt% expressed as CaO) with small fractions of other
oxides. In Figure 4 a SEM image of mussel shell fabric is shown. Differently from geogenic limestone,
where CaCO3 aggregates consist mainly of rounded particles, the fabric of mussel shells is made up of
elements of similar average size (2–6 μm) but more elongated shape. Moreover, as reported in the
literature, the structure of mussel shells, like all bivalves, can be divided into three parts: the outer layer,
periostracum, the middle layer, i.e., the prismatic layer (Gènio, 2014), and the inner layer referred to as
nacre (Martínez-García et al., 2017). Elongated shapes characterise both prismatic layer and nacre.
The first is the thicker one (around 400 m; Hahn, 2011) and its structure is composed by arrays of
parallel and very elongated calcite prisms (Gènio et al., 2014), which are polygonal in cross section.
Also, the nacre, i.e., a biomineralized composite (Hahn, 2011) about 10 m thick, comprises laminar
aragonite which is also oriented parallel to the surface and held together by an organic matrix composite
of polysaccharides (chitin), proteins and glycoproteins. Despite the heating process, the SEM images
of the mussel shell powder not only shows the presence of rhombic calcite but also the persistence of
the lamellar aragonite (Figure 4).

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

rhombic
calcite

lamellar aragonite

Figure 4. SEM photograph of the mussel shell powder.

Table 2. Chemical composition of Portland cement, P, Termocem green cement, T, and mussel shell
powder, MS.
Oxides P T MS
[% mass]
CaO 63.06 44.9 53.60
Al2O3 3.92 8.25 0.02
Fe2O3 4.51 1.48 0
SiO2 18.09 32.81 0.038
MgO 1.59 5.79 0.239
Na2O 0.5 0.52 0.355
K2O 0.93 0.81 0.034
SO3 4.13 3.61 0.197
P2O5 0.11 0.05 0.034
SrO 0.03 0.09 -
MnO 0.07 0.15 -
TiO2 0.22 0.38 0
Mn2O3 - - 0.002
Sr [PPM] - - 812
Ni [PPM] - - 48
Cu [PPM] - - 118
LOI 2.64 1.27 45.58

3.2 SEM photographs of treated sediments

Figure 5 shows the microphotographs at magnification 5.00Kx of the different mixtures. In detail, the
SEM photographs of the sediments treated with 8% of P and T cements (US8P in Figure 5a and US8T
in Figure 5c) and the same sediments where 2% of P or T cement in the mixtures is replaced by 2% of
mussel shell powder (US6P2MS in Figure 5b and US6T2MS in Figure 5d) are reported.

The presence of calcium hydroxide plate, CH plate, and calcium silicates hydrates formation, CSH, is
evident not only from the micrographs of the sediments treated with 8% of P cement (US8P, Figure 5a)
but also on that treated with 6% of P cement and 2% of mussel shell powder (US6P2MS, Figure 5b).

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

Moreover, the needle forms of CSH are arranged into “honeycomb” structures and, in some cases, they
fill, with other cement products, the spaces produced by Foraminifera shells.
Also, the treatment of the sediment with 8% of T cement (US8T) produces calcium hydroxide, CH,
whose presence is confirmed with its platy morphology in Figure 5c. Finally, Figure 5d shows that in the
fabric of the US6T2MS sample, the mussel shell powder appears completely encapsulated in the
cement-sediment structure, acting as a connector thanks to the typical elongated shape of the mussel
shells.

US8P US6P2MS

CSH

CH
relict of Foraminifera
plate CSH
shell filled with
cement products

a) b)

US8T US6T2MS

CH
plate
mussel
shell

CSH

hydration products

c) d)
Figure 5. SEM photograph of a) sediment treated with 8% of P cement, US8P; b) sediment treated with
6% of P cement and 2% of mussel shell powder, US6P2MS; c) sediment treated with 8% of T cement,
US8T; d) sediment treated with 6% of T cement and 2% of mussel shell powder, US6T2MS.

3.3 Atterberg Limits and Consistency of treated sediments

Table 3 reports the Atterberg limit, water content and consistency index values that were determined on
the natural sediments and on the sediments treated with P, T and the corresponding cement-shell
mixtures after 28 days of curing. Moreover, in Figure 6 the Casagrande plasticity chart is reported
including such Atterberg limit determinations.

The results in the figure show that, if 8% of any additive is used, 28 days of curing are sufficient to
transform the untreated sediments (US) from CH (clay of high plasticity) to MH soil (inorganic silt of high
compressibility and organic clay), according to USCS classification (USCS, ASTM D2487-17e1). In
particular, after 28 days of curing the plasticity index of US8T is slightly lower than that of US. Instead,
the treatment with 8% of P cement, US8P, produces a small increase in PI with respect to the
corresponding value of untreated sediment.

The use of mussel shell powder (i.e., mixtures US6P2MS and US6T2MS) produces an increase in the
PI value, that is higher the values recorded in US8P (or US8T) and US samples. Moreover, the limit

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

liquid increases in all the mixtures (with and without MS) with respect to the corresponding value
determined on the untreated sediment sample.

Finally, the reduction in water content brings about an increase in consistency of more than 100% for
all the mixtures, which move from fluid to plastic consistency (Table 3). Replacing part of the P (or T)
cement with MS (i.e., US6P2MS, US6T2MS) not only does not seem to affect the results but causes a
further (even if small) increase in consistency (about 5%).

Table 3. wL, w0 and PI values of US, P, T-cement and P, T-shell powder treated sediment samples after
28 days of curing.
Materials wL [%] PI [%] W0 [%] CI [-]
US 53.59 28.61 74.00 -0.71
US8T 83.26 26.51 67.82 0.58
US8P 86.50 32.20 66.95 0.61
US6T2MS 86.42 32.66 66.48 0.63
US6P2MS 85.17 29.83 66.47 0.63

Figure 6. Casagrande’s plasticity chart of US P, T-cement (US8P and US8T) and P, T-shell powder
(US6P2MS and US6T2MS) treated sediment samples after 28 days of curing.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The note shows some multiscale experimental results about the use of mussel shell powder as a green
additive to partially replace different kinds of cement in the mechanical treatment of dredged sediments.
The sediments used were sampled in the south of Italy and well represent, for their composition,
consistency and heterogeneity, fine grained soils typically dredged from port areas, in particular

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 Characterisation tests for mechanical stabilisation of dredged sediments using shell powder

concerning fluid consistency, high plasticity, and organic content. The treatment of the sediments was
carried out both with commercial binders (type I Portland cement, P, and type III Termocem green blast
furnace cement, T) and with a new mixture produced by partially replacing the same cements with the
corresponding content of mussel shell powder (MS), appropriately treated without calcination.

The data show that, after 28 days of curing, if part of P (or T) cement is replaced by MS the performance
of the mixture MS-sediment-cement is better than that of sediment-cement mixtures in terms of
consistency index. Moreover, the SEM analysis provides evidence that, together with their chemical role
as source of biogenic calcium, the mussel shells, also thanks to the typical elongated shape of aragonite,
are mechanically supporting the connections within the cement-sediment fabric as completely
encapsulated therein. Moreover, the presence of hydration products, i.e., calcium silicates hydrates
formation, CSH, is evident from the SEM photographs. While limited to one particular type of marine
sediment, this research demonstrates significant potential of using mussel shell powder as a partial
replacement of cement on the improvement of the mechanical properties of fine-grained sediments.
Future developments of this research are ongoing to further deepen the geotechnical properties of the
sediment mixtures and the possible role of the mussel shell powder as adsorbent of pollutants in
sediments contaminated by either organic and/or heavy metal pollutants.

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