Development of a Simple and Cost-effective method for Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP)

Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an in situ soil improvement technique that involves hydrolysis of urea by bacteria containing the enzyme urease in the presence of dissolved calcium ions, resulting in calcium carbonate precipitation. In order to reduce cost of the MICP process for engineering applications, it is necessary to develop cost effective process to enable up-scaling of the technology to suit commercial applications. In this regard, to replace costly yeast extract (YE) medium as a source of complex nutrients, batch fermentation of sodium acetate and glucose at different concentrations has been evaluated at laboratory scale to economically produce ureas enzyme by using Sporsarcina Pasteurii for MICP applications. This has led to development of a protocol for cost-effective production of urease enzyme.

Keywords:

Soil Improvement , MICP , Urease , Economical aspect