Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes

Piping is a severe threat to dikes, which can lead to dike failure, and cause significant economic and human casualties. However, conventional measures necessitate substantial labor and material resources. A novel foam-based method for the rapid mitigation of piping was proposed to enhance piping em...

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Main Authors: Jiakun Gong, Zuopeng Pang, Yuan Wang, Jie Ren, Tian Qi, Adam Bezuijen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Molecules
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/12/2583
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author Jiakun Gong
Zuopeng Pang
Yuan Wang
Jie Ren
Tian Qi
Adam Bezuijen
author_facet Jiakun Gong
Zuopeng Pang
Yuan Wang
Jie Ren
Tian Qi
Adam Bezuijen
author_sort Jiakun Gong
collection DOAJ
description Piping is a severe threat to dikes, which can lead to dike failure, and cause significant economic and human casualties. However, conventional measures necessitate substantial labor and material resources. A novel foam-based method for the rapid mitigation of piping was proposed to enhance piping emergency control efficiency, which demonstrates significant application potential. This study aims to develop a novel foam formulation and evaluate its performance in controlling piping in dikes. Through a combination of foam static-property characterization experiment and foam plugging capacity assessment experiment, a compounded anionic–cationic surfactant composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is optimized. The formulation, at a 9:1 mass ratio and 1.5% total concentration, exhibits superior foam stability and plugging performance. An experiment on the ability of the foam to restrain piping demonstrated that, compared to single-component SDS foam, the compounded SDS-CTAB foam increased the critical hydraulic gradient for piping from 2.35 to 2.70, a 15% improvement. It also reduces the extent of piping channel development under equivalent hydraulic conditions. The foam storage area exhibits enhanced scour resistance and better preservation under prolonged water flow. Mechanistically, the SDS-CTAB foam benefits from synergistic hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic attraction, and hydrogen bonding between surfactant molecules, which enhance foam stability.
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2025-06-01
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series Molecules
spelling doaj-art-4daee5b7a4e24957a51b14908bf109972025-08-20T03:27:40ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492025-06-013012258310.3390/molecules30122583Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in DikesJiakun Gong0Zuopeng Pang1Yuan Wang2Jie Ren3Tian Qi4Adam Bezuijen5College of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaCollege of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaCollege of Water Conservancy & Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaCollege of Water Conservancy & Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaCollege of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaDepartment of Civil Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, BelgiumPiping is a severe threat to dikes, which can lead to dike failure, and cause significant economic and human casualties. However, conventional measures necessitate substantial labor and material resources. A novel foam-based method for the rapid mitigation of piping was proposed to enhance piping emergency control efficiency, which demonstrates significant application potential. This study aims to develop a novel foam formulation and evaluate its performance in controlling piping in dikes. Through a combination of foam static-property characterization experiment and foam plugging capacity assessment experiment, a compounded anionic–cationic surfactant composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) is optimized. The formulation, at a 9:1 mass ratio and 1.5% total concentration, exhibits superior foam stability and plugging performance. An experiment on the ability of the foam to restrain piping demonstrated that, compared to single-component SDS foam, the compounded SDS-CTAB foam increased the critical hydraulic gradient for piping from 2.35 to 2.70, a 15% improvement. It also reduces the extent of piping channel development under equivalent hydraulic conditions. The foam storage area exhibits enhanced scour resistance and better preservation under prolonged water flow. Mechanistically, the SDS-CTAB foam benefits from synergistic hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic attraction, and hydrogen bonding between surfactant molecules, which enhance foam stability.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/12/2583dikepipinganion–cation surfactantsynergistic effectfoam
spellingShingle Jiakun Gong
Zuopeng Pang
Yuan Wang
Jie Ren
Tian Qi
Adam Bezuijen
Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
Molecules
dike
piping
anion–cation surfactant
synergistic effect
foam
title Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
title_full Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
title_fullStr Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
title_full_unstemmed Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
title_short Development of Compounded Surfactant Foam and Its Application in Emergency Control of Piping in Dikes
title_sort development of compounded surfactant foam and its application in emergency control of piping in dikes
topic dike
piping
anion–cation surfactant
synergistic effect
foam
url https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/12/2583
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