DISSOLUTION BEHAVIOR OF CORROSIVE ANIONS FROM SABKHA SOIL SOUTHERN KUWAIT UNDER LONG TERM LEACHINGA

Corrosive anions leaching from sabkha soil due to continuous surface or subsurface flow, to ground water can create a corrosive environment for underground structures. This study aimed to investigate the amount of leached chloride (Cl) and sulfates (SO4) corrosive anions in terms of quantity and rate as a ratio of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). In this study representative Sabkha soil sample from southern Kuwait was leached for 40 pore volumes with distilled water. It was determined that corrosive anions, chloride and sulfate, contributed to the high effluent TDS levels in the leachate. For TDS, the corrosive anions dissolution was over 50% in first leached pore volume, increasing to over 75% in the final stages of leaching. Results also showed a distinct tendency of reduction with pore volume in the concentration of SO4 and CI anions. These findings will help allow the prevention of underground structure corrosion by evaluating the numerical criteria for particular anions such as chloride and sulfate. In establishing appropriate stabilization techniques, it is necessary to consider anion dissolution as one of the prime criteria.