A feasibility study to scale-up the production of Sporosarcina pasteurii, using industrial-grade reagents, for cost-effective in-situ biocementation

Biocementation is a technology that uses bioaugmentation or biostimulatation of microorganisms (i.e. Sporosarcina pasteurii) as biocatalyst to stimulate insoluble calcium carbonate precipitates for improved soil strengthening and solidification. Biocementation serves as an alternative to current chemical methods (i.e. Portland cement and asphalt) due to its less carbon footprints risk and energy consumption. Since current soil biocement implementation for field-scale or commercial application is very costly, this thesis therefore investigated an innovative approach to reduce its bacterial cell production and treatment costs by exploring the use of food-grade yeast extract, low-grade chemicals and a custom-built stainless still reactor (3000 L capacity).