Dr James Minto
Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Personal statement
Personal statement
I am a Chancellor's Fellow in the Civil & Environmental Engineering department where I work on developing low viscosity alternative grouting materials for subsurface engineering works and investigate fundamental flow processes in fractured and porous media.
One such grout we are developing utilises naturally occurring soil bacteria Sporosarcina pasteurii to produce calcium carbonate via a biochemical reaction. The process is termed microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) and is an exciting and multidisciplinary field combining microbiology, geology, hydraulics and subsurface engineering with the potential, for certain applications, to replace the use of cement and chemical grouts with a less expensive, less toxic and low CO2 “bio-grout”.
Our aim is to develop the MICP process for rock fracture sealing and ground improvement then demonstrate the feasibility of the process at the large scale. Our work combines micro-scale experiments characterised by 4D X-ray CT with large scale laboratory experiments and multi-scale numerical modelling.
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Prize And Awards
- MDPI Energies poster competition
- Recipient
- 25/5/2023
- Winner of the Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation
- Recipient
- 28/4/2023
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Publications
- Surface soil-dust contamination of Phalaris arundinacea grown on former lead mine sites : implications for biomass use, phytoremediation and phytomanagement
- Nunn Benjamin, Lord Richard, Minto James, Davidson Christine M, Manzoor Neelam
- Science of the Total Environment Vol 958 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.178013
- Microbially induced carbonate precipitation for soil improvement : insights from a meter-scale radial grouting trial
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, Minto James M, El Mountassir Grainne
- Biogeotechnics (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bgtech.2024.100157
- Improving non-uniform gravelly sand using microbially induced carbonate precipitation : an outdoor cubic-meter scale trial by engineering contractors
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M, McLachlan Erica, Bradley David, Henderson Kenneth
- Engineering Geology Vol 343 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107791
- In-situ X-ray micro-CT quantitative analysis and modelling the damage evolution in granite rock
- Hu Qinxin, Yang Shangtong, Xi Xun, Shipton Zoe K, Minto James, Hu Xiaofei
- Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics Vol 133 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2024.104589
- Exploiting induced carbonate precipitation to improve reservoir storage integrity and geothermal system efficiency
- Salter Philip, Dobson Katherine J, Minto James
- InterPore 2024 (2024)
- Meter-scale MICP improvement of medium graded very gravelly sands : lab measurement, transport modelling, mechanical and microstructural analysis
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
- Engineering Geology Vol 324 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107275
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Professional Activities
- 3D & 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
- Invited speaker
- 18/3/2024
- GeoNetZero XCT Training course
- Invited speaker
- 5/6/2023
- 3D & 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
- Invited speaker
- 20/3/2023
- BTG Workshop - Net-Zero
- Participant
- 18/5/2022
- XCT Imaging and Analysis Training Course
- Invited speaker
- 4/4/2022
- Calcite Biomineralisation for the Repair of Damaged Concrete
- Contributor
- 20/9/2021
Projects
- Scottish Executive High Growth Spin Out - Ureaka
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Salter, Philip (Research Co-investigator)
- 10-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2026
- MG36176 - Diamond Synchrotron: Understanding the controls on saprotrophic fungal growth in porous media
- El Mountassir, Grainne (Principal Investigator) Zhang, Qi (Co-investigator) Minto, James (Co-investigator) Castro, Gloria (Co-investigator) Divers, Matt (Co-investigator) Dobson, Kate (Co-investigator)
- Fungi play vital roles in natural soil ecosystems in the decomposition of organic matter, carbon cycling, nutrient distribution and symbiosis with plants. It is believed that soil fungi and their role in plant-soil feedback processes will play a critical role in achieving global food security amidst land scarcity and soil and water degradation. Furthermore, fungi can offer us solutions to engineering challenges including: remediation of contaminated land and stabilisation of slopes by modifying soil hydraulic and mechanical behaviour. This proposal aims to investigate in fully 3D conditions for the first time the controls on the growth of saprotrophic fungi in soil.
- 13-Jan-2024 - 17-Jan-2024
- MG31709 - Diamond Synchrotron: 4D imaging of enzyme induced carbonate precipitation
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Dobson, Kate (Co-investigator) Salter, Philip (Post Grad Student) Divers, Matt (Co-investigator)
- The development of underground storage for CO2 and H2 is an essential part of the green energy transition provided we can prevent leakage into groundwater and the atmosphere. Enzyme induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) is a novel bio-cementation technique that can create the necessary impermeable barriers in porous host rocks where traditional cements and grouts cannot. At present however, limited understanding of the dynamics of EICP, calcite crystal growth, and how this is related to properties of the porous media is slowing development of EICP technologies for real-world deployment. This experiment will use synchrotron XCT to deliver much needed insight into these processes.
- 20-Jan-2024 - 24-Jan-2024
- Imaging for Multi-scale Multi-modal and Multi-disciplinary Analysis for EnGineering and Environmental Sustainability (IM3AGES) (EPSRC Strategic Equipment)
- Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator) Minto, James (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2027
- Tailings stabilisation (dewatering) utilising MICP
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) El Mountassir, Grainne (Co-investigator)
- 08-Jan-2024 - 28-Jan-2024
- Introducing a method for stability analysis of the bimrock slopes by physical and 3D numerical modeling
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Pytharouli, Stella (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2026
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Contact
Dr
James
Minto
Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Email: james.minto@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted