Analyzing the use of molasses as an alternate and optimal culture medium in MICP process of sandy soils

The use of different soil improvement methods has always been accompanied by an assessment of the impact on strength parameters, costs and environmental impacts. Since new and eco-friendly methods are associated with a high initial cost, optimizing these methods in order to commercialize them is the priority of research projects. The use of biologic methods for soil improvement, despite its high environmental compatibility, has not been welcomed from the economic point of view in most parts of the world and is still being considered as an academic and not an executive method. Improvement of soil using calcium carbonate sedimentation is one of the most environmentally friendly biological methods. One of the most influential bacterial suspension parameters for calcium carbonate treatment is its culture medium, usually Nutrient Broth or Yeast Extract. An alternative culture medium is one of the ways to reduce the cost of biodiversity in the soil. In this research, the use of sugar beet molasses, which is a waste of sugar and sugar factories, has been investigated as a suitable culture medium for biological improvement along with other culture media. It can reduce the cost of producing a suitable culture medium by up to 500 times. The success of soil regeneration after bacterial cultivation has been evaluated in this study.