The use of foams and polymers in Earth Pressure

Balanced TBMs
F.J.Kupferroth, P.Ellenberger
Degussa Construction Chemicals - Underground Construction Group, Switzerland

Bo Anders Kalin
Degussa Construction Chemicals MBT Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore

ABSTRACT: Earth pressure balanced TBMs (EPBM) are being increasingly used to meet the
demands for excavation of urban tunnels for transportation, services and sewage systems. In some
circumstances slurry machines would be the obvious choice, but with the use of foam and polymers
the boundary between the two methods is becoming blurred as new polymers are developed.
Polymer development is not only directed towards better performance but must also meet the needs of
the environment and occupational safety.
This paper discusses the role of foam and polymers with projects using EPB machines.
1 INTRODUCTION
The demands for transport, water and other services by ever increasing population densities in modern
cities means that Mass Rapid Transit systems, sewage and electrical and telephone cable tunnels are
needed. Earth pressure balanced machines (EPBM) are becoming more favoured than slurry machines
due to the ground conditions and because there is often no possibility to set up the bentonite slurry
processing plants normally required.
Additionally, where bentonite slurry machines are used environmental issues have reduced the number
of available sites for land filling the contaminated soil. Re-use of the soil is again limited due to the
bentonite content, even if this is only 2-3%.
The range of use of Earth Pressure Balanced machine, and the typical conditioning requirements, in
comparison to Slurry type machines is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1:The approximate range of soil conditioning for EPB machines.Jancescz et.al 1999

Earth Pressure Balanced TBMs maintain pressure at the face using the soil as it is excavated, usually
conditioned with water or foam (with or without polymers) depending on the prevailing ground
conditions. Some of the important parameters for soil conditioning are improved stability for the
tunnel face, better control of ground movements; more uniform pressures in the working chamber;
better control of groundwater inflow and a reduction in clogging of the machine head. Additionally,
improved material flow through the cutter head; flow of soil and water through the screw conveyor;
reduced power requirements for the cutter head; reduced wear of cutterhead face, tools and wear parts
of the muck removal system and more acceptable spoil, which gives easier handling of the excavated
soil.
2 GENERAL BACKGROUND TO FOAM ADDITIVES
Foams are surface-active agents, alternatively surfactants or tensides, consisting of long chain
molecules made up from repeating structural units. The formulation and the chemistry of the foam
additive will determine the quality of the foam that can be produced at the foam generator. Different
products are needed as the chemistry of the foam additive may or may not work well with the soils on
the project. Examples of this are clay soils and soils containing large quantities of gypsum or
ironstone.
Foam molecules have a hydrophobic tail and a hydrophilic head (Figure 2). When mixed with air the
molecules align themselves with the hydrophobic tail in the air and the hydrophilic head in the water.
Surface tension and repulsion create the bubble. Bubbles themselves actually are not round but take on
the approximate form of a hexagon (Figure 3), where the thickness of the bubble wall is determined by
the strength of the solution (C f) and the expansion ratio (FER). The quality of the foam is also
governed to a large extent by the design of the foam generator.

Bulk Liquid

Figure 3: Close up of a bubble structure; Milligan

Figure 2: Schematic of foam

The basic requirements for a foam are that it should be stable during injection and mixing with the
soil, but should become unstable as soon as possible after discharge from the screw conveyor. In the
first case it is important to maintain pressure and a plug in the screw conveyor, in the second to reduce
the volume of soil for transportation and land filling.
Breakdown of the foam can last for minutes or days, depending on the type of soil and the quality of
the foam and the soil type. For instance if we measure the time it takes for foam alone to breakdown,
using a simple test, this may be a matter of minutes. If we then compare this same foam but mixed
with a sharp sand, breakdown may occur in several days. The rate at which the breakdown occurs is
also dependant on the formulation of the product and the length of time a foam has been confined as
well as the pressure of confinement.
A general use of foam and polymers and polymers related to soil types and conditions is shown in
Table 1 below.

Table 1 : Summary of the use of soil conditioning in EPB machines (Milligan:2000)

Soil type
Mining characteristics
Treatment
Plastic clays

Tend to reconstitute with little

loss of strength in machine
chamber.

High dosage of foam at head to keep

excavated material as separate pieces

Laminated, silty or sandy

clays

Break up better, but still tend to

re- constitute, slightly abrasive,
form plug.

Possibly none other than water to reduce

shear strength to acceptable value; in
stiffer clays, medium dosage of foam at
head. Possibly add lubricant to foam to
reduce abrasion.

Clayey sands and gravels.

Flow easily, may form plug if

fines content in excess of 10%;
highly abrasive.

Add lubricant polymer at head to reduce

wear; add water-absorbing polymer at
screw if required to form plug and control
water
inflow.

Silty fine sands

Do not flow, do not form plug,

allow groundwater inflow,
highly abrasive; - problems
increase with larger particle
sizes.

Foam with polymer

additive to stiffen foam
and provide lubrication;
approximate dosage rates
for polymer dependant on
the polymer type

Tend to congregate in clumps

in head and/or jam screw.

Large dosages of additive to keep cobbles

and boulders separate in head and provide
water control and lubrication.

Sand/gravel
Gravel and cobbles
Cobbles and Boulders

0.1%
0.25%
1 -3%

3 POLYMERS
Polymers have a relatively long history of use and are for the most part spin-offs from the oil drilling
industry, which has very similar requirements to EPBM tunnelling viz.: prevention of face collapse,
removal of cuttings and reduction in wear and torque. Several methods of improving lubrication and
wear resistance have been used, for example adding oil or emulsifying agents to foam.(Lyon;2000)
Polymers are also used to modify bentonite slurries to improve yield without increasing shear and to
improve "cake formation".
Polymers have the following basic functions in EPB machines:

To increase the viscosity of water in the soil in the immediate vicinity of the face

To bind fine particles of silt & sand to reduce permeability

To increase stiffness of the ground & help form a "plug" in the screw conveyor.

To stiffen or strengthen the foam to help prevent breakdown (for instance during stoppages)

To lubricate the soil to assist travel through the working chamber & screw conveyor

To prevent or reduce adhesion to face plates, tools and other metal surfaces.

To reduce cutterhead torque for lower maintenance and increased speed of advance
In slurry machines:

Reduction/prevention of clay agglomeration

Increase yield without increasing shear

Improvement in the development of a "cake"

These are some of the most important features but by no means an exhaustive list.
3.1 Polymers -a simplified model
Where soil particles exist in a saturated condition the consistency of the soil is between wet and fluid
as seen in the simple illustration below (Figure 4a and 4b).

Water soluble polymer

Soil particle
Moisture

Figure 4a. Simplified soil / water model

When a water-soluble or partly water-soluble polymer is introduced into the system water is taken
from the surrounding soil.
The polymer swells with the uptake of water and the soil particles are able to move closer together,
increasing the inter-particle friction and so giving the impression of stiffening or 'drying'.
In fact the actual moisture content remains the same and some polymers will even release the trapped
water with time.
Water soluble polymer

Soil particle
Moisture

3.2 Types of polymer

Polymers types typically in use today range from Polyacrylamides, various gums, such as Guar &
Xanthan, Cellulose Ethers , Carboxy Methyl Cellulose(CMC) being one of the most common. The
basic property common to them all is that they have long polymer chains. A polymer is a repeating
chain of monomers. The length of the chain is expressed as an increasingly higher molecular weight.
Typical values, for these types of product, range from 10s of thousands to millions and usually these
products are supplied as powders to be mixed on site into a solution for use on the TBM.
3.3 New polymer types
New types of polymer being developed have no different requirements to those above, except in one
particular respect, and that is the products are delivered as liquids, ready to use, instead of needing to
be mixed with water on site. On first analysis it would seem to be an advantage to store powder and
have a simple mixing plant to make up the solution as required. It should be noted that a simple
mixing plant consists of pumps, flow-meters, storage tanks for water, the mixed product and the mixer
itself. However, some powder polymers do not readily dissolve in water and the use of high shear
mixers can break down the polymer chain, with a resultant loss of performance.
As one of the main properties of polymers is the ability to "absorb" or bind water this can result in a
loss of product if storage is not according to the manufacturers recommendations (e.g. in tropical
climates). Mixing therefore, apart from being more plant to maintain, becomes an additional quality
control point.
The polymers currently under development have a totally different chemistry to the previously
discussed polymer products. Examples of three of them are given in the case histories later in this

paper. The same polymers are not just designed for use in EPB machines alone but can also be used in
slurry shield machines. One of the applications is the prevention of clay agglomeration, which can be
seen in the example below. As an example, samples of clay were taken from a project where
agglomeration of the clay particles in bentonite slurry was occurring. The agglomeration resulted in
the clay sinking to the bottom of the cutterhead where it blocked the outlet for the slurry. In the test the
clay was cut into chips of approximately 8 10mm diameter and 20 25mm long.
Slurry made with the Bentonite from the site, at the same solids rate, was used in the testing. The
dosage of polymer was based on the bentonite slurry volume.
The clay chips (Fig 6 13) were rolled using a bottle and rolling equipment (Fig:5) for one hour and
the appearance of the clay observed.

Bentonite Slurry
Rolling bottle (~100mm ) diameter
Clay chips
Mechanised Rollers
Figure 5. Schematic of the rolling bottle test

Results

Figure 6.Clay chips

Figure 7.Effect of slurry alone

Figure 8. Effect of polymer 1 at 0.05%

Figure 9.Effect of polymer 1 at 0.1%

Figure 10.Effect of polymer 1 at 0.2%

Figure 11.Effect of polymer 2 at 0.05%

Figure 12. Effect of polymer 2 at

0.1%

Figure 13. Effect of polymer 2 at

0.2%

The pictures above demonstrate the effects of two different polymers in preventing clay
agglomeration. As can be seen Polymer 1 gives almost agglomeration free results at all dosages whilst
Polymer 2 initially improves the agglomeration but gives worsening results as the dosage increases.
This clearly demonstrates the need for testing to determine the correct polymer and dosage for each
application.
A third type of polymer has anti-clogging properties when used with sandy clayey soils. It acts like a
dispersant to allow foam to penetrate the soil. These dispersants do not have such long chain
length as the previous types used to bind soil and water.(Fig 14). They act by releasing water trapped
between the clay particles, which increases the fluidity of the soil, without the need for large quantities
of water to be added. Foam is, as a result, much easier to mix into the soil to provide the correct
structure for EPB excavation.

Figure 14:Approximate mode of action of a dispersing type polymer

4 CASE STUDIES
4.1 A water collector running close to the sea through beach sand
The first case study involved a tunnel of approximately 5km in length with a 3.85m diameter EPB
TBM. Most of the tunnel was excavated through cohesionless fine silty sand under 1.5 to 3 bar
seawater pressure.

Figure 15: Particle size distribution for the soil

Because of the nature of this soil it was necessary to create the correct plasticity and impermeability to
hold the pressure and allow excavation of the soil through the screw conveyor.
To maintain the pressure a mixture of polymers and foam were injected to the face and the screw
conveyor. A foam was made from a 2.5 -3% foam solution (Cf) and expanded to an FER (Foam
Expansion Ratio) of approximately 10. Polymer 2, at a rate of 0.7 litres/m3 of soil, was injected into
the face and working chamber with the foam. This gave structure to the soil by helping to bind the fine
soil particles and increase the viscosity of the water. This helped to reduce the permeability of the soil
and increase support at the face.
To add more stiffness to the soil, as well as lubrication, to form a better plug, Polymer 1 ,which
replaced polymer 2, was injected at 1 litre/ m3 with the foam at the bottom of the screw conveyor.
This allowed continuous advance throughout the project.
4.2 Polymer use in a sandy clay environment.
In a metro project using an EPB TBM of 9.5meters diameter the contractor encountered a difficult
zone of sticky sandy clay which clogged the cutterhead and working chamber.

Figure 16 :An example of a clogged cutterhead

Standard foam products were unable to prevent clogging of the cutterhead and working chamber and
polymers described above also did not help to reduce the adhesion, although under normal
circumstance they would have worked. (Figures 16,17 & 18)

Figure 17 & 18: Clogging of the working chamber

Typical progress was 20-30mm/min with frequent stoppages to manually to remove the clay.

After addition of the polymer, the advance rate increased to more than 70 - 80mm/min due to a
reduction in torque, with no further clogging, or soil adhesion in the cutterhead and working
chamber.
5 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Certain polymers such as Cellulose Ethers are considered environmentally sound. They have a high
biodegradability with no toxic by-products in the process. New types of polymers also have to be
environmentally friendly.
Some polymers, such as Polyacrylamides, in the light of recent problems in Europe, are now
questionable as to their environmental friendliness. In low dosages they are considered perfectly
safe but high contents of the products leached into the groundwater and remaining in the soil have
been shown to have highly toxic effects. There are moves to ban the use of these products in Europe.
There is much made of the word biodegradability in the industry as if it were the only thing to
consider. Generally we are concerned with the environmental effects in soil and ground water. The
whole process of wastewater management is a subject in itself, but in broad terms the following
applies, certainly in Europe.
5.1 EU labelling guide - ecotoxicological properties

Aquatic environment Ecotoxiclogical Properties and Risk Phrases

N, R 50
very toxic to aquatic organisms

N, R 50/53
very toxic to aquatic organisms,
may cause long-term effects in the aquatic environment

N, R 51/53
toxic to aquatic organisms,
may cause long-term effects in the aquatic environment

R 52/53
harmful to aquatic organisms,
may cause long-term effects in the aquatic environment

R 53
may cause long-term effects in the aquatic environment
Test Procedures to determine the ecotoxicological effects of foam additives and polymers are shown in
Table 2 below:
Table 2 . Test methods to OECD requirements
Aquatic Toxicity
Acute Fish Toxicity OECD 203
Acute Daphnia Toxicity OECD 202
Alga Toxicity OECD 201
Acute Bacteria Toxicity OECD 209

Biodegradability
Ready Biodegradability OECD 301 A-F
Inherent Biodegradability OECD 302 A-C
Coupled Units Test OECD 303 A

Relevant properties in an aquatic environment are, therefore, toxicity, biodegradability and

bioaccumulation. Bioaccumulation refers to the build up up toxic substances in lifeforms which has an
effect on the food chain, for instance, the build up of mercury in fish which affects humans.
From the above in terms of toxicity:

Non biodegradable or bioaccumulating substances have only to be classified, if:

EC50 or LC50 >100 mg/L

and
water solubility <1 mg/L
and
NOEC
<1 mg/L

Definitions:
LC50 = Lethal concentration for more 50% of the test population: e.g. Daphnia or fish
EC50 = Effective Concentration affecting more than 50% of the test population
NOEC=No Observable Effect Concentration
So,

Biodegradability and toxicity are always correlated.That is you cannot consider one without the
other.
Non-biodegradable or bioaccumulating substances have only to be classified if the above
mentioned criteria are met. An exception is N, Risk phrase 50.
A low biodegradability does not imply that the substance has a high ecological relevance.
Suitable test procedures have to be employed to obtain the most reliable results. The test method
has been shown to have a significant effect on the result.

Therefore it is necessary to have ecological information and possibly carry out a risk assessment on
each project to assess the possible effects of spillage or high dosages of polymer and foam
concentrates in the surrounding soil, and the effects of these products leaching into local groundwater
systems. Manufacturers should be able to provide details of how their products can be assessed to
meet environmental requirements.
6 CONCLUSIONS
Polymers are an essential tool for improving the properties of foam and the structure of soil.
Some of the properties that currently can be provided are:
Better face support through binding of soil particles and modification of the viscosity of water
Lubrication to allow smoother flow through the screw conveyor and at the same time form a
plug
Improved stiffness/strengthening to foam
Anti-clogging and anti-adhesion properties
Polymers are also useful in preventing adhesion of the mixed soil on to conveyor belts and rollers.
New forms of polymer for EPB and Slurry machines are liquid, ready to use products with superior
performance due to their chemical properties. Product research and development of new and
innovative polymer products continues to find ways of meeting the needs of the industry in terms of
performance and safety of use, meeting both environmental and worker safety demands, and of course
cost effectiveness.
REFERENCES
Janscecz,S & Krause,R & Langmaack,L. 1999. Advantages of soil conditioning in shield tunnelling: Experiences
of LRTS Izmir. ITA Oslo
Lyon.J. May 2000. World Tunnelling
Milligan,G. 2000. Lubrication and Soil Conditioning in Tunnelling, Pipe Jacking and Micro-tunnelling. A State
of the art review
MBT UGC International. Internal MBT reports
Acknowledgements
The authors are also grateful for the information on the case studies provided by Rafael Valenzuela of Bettor
MBT Spain.