Experimental study on effect of soil salinity on electro-osmotic dewatering in soft clay

A one-dimensional laboratory test program is conducted to study the effect of soil salinity on electro-osmotic dewatering in soft clay. Five indexes including discharge, dewatering rate, coefficient of energy consumption, reduction in water content and electro-chemical reaction are compared to analyze the electro-osmotic characters of different saline clays. The results show that the soil salinity has obvious effect on the electro-osmotic dewatering in soft clay and there is an optimal salinity for some type of clay. A higher salinity will lead to larger energy consumption, more anode corrosion and larger variation of pH value, while a lower salinity is better for drainage and reduction of water content. Moreover, there is some quantitative relationship between the coefficient of energy consumption and the soil salinity, and percent of anode corrosion and ration of drainage rate to current intensity are similar to coefficient of energy consumption. It may provide some reference for judging the suitability of electro-osmotic dewatering in practice.