Geosynthetic Clay Liner Interaction with Leachate: Correlation between Permeability, Microstructure, and Surface Chemistry
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 6
Abstract
When a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) containing sodium bentonite is brought into contact with fluids containing other cations, the latter may exchange with the sodium present between clay layers. This modification of clay surface chemistry may change the clay microstructure and hence its hydraulic conductivity. The influence of clay surface chemistry on microstructure and permeability, after prolonged contact between two GCLs (a natural sodium bentonite GCL and a sodium-activated calcium bentonite GCL) and different fluids in oedometer cells, was investigated using exchangeable-cation analysis, small-angle x-ray scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. Results suggest that calcium carbonate in the bentonite, formed during activation of the calcium bentonite, may redissolve during contact with a dilute permeant, releasing calcium ions that exchange with sodium in the clay. This exchange leads to obliteration of a so-called “gel” phase (beneficial in terms of low permeability) and to the development of a more permeable “hydrated-solid” phase. Sodium replacement by calcium during GCL contact with a solution was found to be virtually complete, with or without GCL prehydration with dilute water. No gel phase was observed in these samples. When in contact with real leachate, however, a gel phase appeared, especially when GCL samples were prehydrated. A correlation was observed between the level of hydraulic conductivity and the relative proportions of gel phase and clay interlayer occupation by sodium.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the anaonymous reviewers for helpful comments and corrections. This work was part of the LIXAR project performed by BRGM, Cemagref, and INSA-Lyon, with the financial support of ADEME.
References
Ben Rhaiem, H., Pons, C.-H., and Tessier, D. (1987). “Factors affecting the microstructure of smectites: role of cation and history of applied stresses.” Proc., Inter-Clay Conf., Denver, The Clay Mineral Society, Bloomington, 292–297.
Didier, G., and Al Nassar, M. (2002). “Hydraulic performance of geosynthetic clay liners—some French laboratory test methods.” Proc., International Symp. on Clay Geosynthetic Barriers, Zanzinger, Koerner, and Gartung, eds., Nuremberg, Germany, 249–263.
Egloffstein, T. (2001). “The influence of ion-exchange on the permeability of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) in landfill capping systems.” Proc., Sardinia-2001, 8th International Waste Management and Landfill Symp., Christensen, Cossu, and Stegmann, eds., S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy, 207–218.
Egloffstein, T. (2002). “Bentonite as sealing material in geosynthetic clay liners—influence of the electrolytic concentration, the ion exchange and ion exchange with simultaneous partial desiccation on permeability.” Proc., International Symp. on Clay Geosynthetic Barriers, Zanzinger, Koerner, and Gartung, eds., Nuremberg, Germany, 141–153.
Egloffstein, T., Maubeuge, K., and Reuter, E. (2002). “Application of GCLs in contact with leachates or chemical solutions.” Proc., 7th ICG in Nice, Delmas, Gourc, and Girard, eds., Nice, France, 813–818.
Fairclough, C., McGill, P., and Webb, N. (2002). “The effect of calcareous permeant on the hydraulic flux of four clay systems used in geosynthetic clay liners.” Proc., 7th ICG in Nice, Delmas, Gourc, and Girard, eds., Nice, France, 819–822.
Faisandier, K., Pons, C.-H., Tchoubar, D., and Thomas, F. (1998). “Structural organisation of Na- and K-Montmorillonite suspensions in response to osmotic and thermal stresses.” Clays Clay Miner., 46, 636–648.
Guinier, A., and Fournet, G. (1955). Small-angle scattering of x-rays, Wiley, New York.
Guyonnet, D., Clinard, Ch., Didier, G., Duquennoi, Ch., Gaboriau, H., Gaucher, E., Hébé, I., Norotte, V., Pons, C.-H., and Touze-Foltz, N. (2003). “A multiple-scale investigation of GCL interaction with landfill leachate.” Proc., Sardinia-2003, 9th International Waste Management and Landfill Symp., Christensen, Cossu, and Stegmann, eds., S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy.
Guyonnet, D., Perrochet, P., Côme, B., Seguin, J.-J., and Parriaux, A. (2001). “On the hydro-dispersive equivalence between multi-layered mineral barriers.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 51, 215–231.
Henken-Mellies, W. U., Zanzinger, H., and Gartung, E. (2002). “Performance of GCL and drainage geocomposite in a landfill cover system.” Proc., 7th ICG in Nice, Delmas, Gourc, and Girard, eds., Nice, France, 833–836.
Jo, H. Y., Katsumi, T., Benson, C., and Edil, T. (2001). “Hydraulic conductivity and swelling of nonprehydrated GCLs permeated with single-species salt solutions.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 127(7), 557–567.
Kjeldsen, P., Barlaz, M., Rooker, A., Baun, A., Ledin, A., and Christensen, Th. (2002). “Present and long-term composition of MSW landfill leachate: a review.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 32(4), 297–336.
Kjellander, R., Marcelja, S., and Quick, J. (1988). “Attractive double-layer interactions between calcium and clay particles.” J. Colloid Interface Sci., 1236(1), 194–211.
Koerner, R. M. (1998). “Manufacturing of geosynthetic clay liners.” Proc., GeoBento 98 Geosynthetic Clay Liners: State of the Art, Didier, ed., Paris, 31–43.
Lin, L., and Benson, C. (2000). “Effect of wet-dry cycling on swelling and hydraulic conductivity of GCLs.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 126(1), 40–49.
McNeal, B. L., Norvell, W. A., and Coleman, N. T. (1966). “Effect of solution composition on the swelling of extracted clay soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 30, 313–317.
MEDD. (2002). “Guide de recommandations, à l’usage des tiers experts, pour l’évaluation de l’équivalence en étanchéité de site de stockage de déchets.” Guide of recommendations, for third-party experts, for the assessment of equivalence in waste storage site confinement, French Ministry of the Environment, ed., Paris (in French).
Melchior, S. (2002). “Field studies and excavations of geosynthetic clay barriers in landfill covers.” Proc., International Symp. on Clay Geosynthetic Barriers, Zanzinger, Koerner, and Gartung, eds., Nuremberg, Germany, 321–330.
Norotte, V., Didier, G., Guyonnet, D., and Gaucher, E. (2004). “Evolution of GCL hydraulic performance during contact with landfill leachate.” Advances in Geosynthetic Clay Liner Technology: 2nd Symp. Proc., ASTM STP 1456, Mackey and von Maubeuge, eds., ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa., 41–52.
Norrish, K. (1954). “The swelling of montmorillonite.” Discuss. Faraday Soc., 18, 120–134.
Norrish, K., and Raussell-Colom, J. A. (1963). “Low-angle x-ray diffraction studies of the swelling of montmorillonite and vermiculite.” Clays Clay Miner., 10, 123–149.
Petrov, R., and Rowe, R. K. (1997). “Geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)—chemical compatibility by hydraulic conductivity testing and factors impacting its performances.” Can. Geotech. J., 34, 863–885.
Pons, C.-H. (1980). “Mise en évidence des relations entre la texture et la structure dans les sytèmes eau-smectites par diffusion aux petits angles du rayonnement X-synchrotron.” PhD thesis, Univ. of Orléans. Orléans, France (in French).
Pons, C.-H., Rousseaux, F., and Tchoubar, D. (1981). “Utilisation du rayonnement synchrotron en diffusion aux petits angles pour l’étude du gonflement des smectites. Etude du système eau-montmorillonite-Na en fonction de la température.” Clay Miner., 16, 23–42 (in French).
Reeve, R. C., and Ramaddoni, G. H. (1965). “Effect of electrolyte concentration on laboratory permeability and field intake rate of a sodic soil.” Soil Sci., 99(4), 22–266.
Rémy, J. C., and Orsini, L. (1976). “Utilisation du chlorure de cobaltihexamine pour la détermination simultanée de la capacité d’échange et des bases échangeables dans les sols.” Sciences Sol, 4, 269–275 (in French).
Ruhl, J., and Daniel, D. (1997). “Geosynthetic clay liners permeated with chemical solutions and leachates.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 123(4), 369–381.
Schroeder, C., Monjoie, A., Illing, P., Dosquet, D., and Thorez, J. (2001). “Testing a factory-prehydrated GCL under several conditions.” Proc., Sardinia-2001, 8th International Waste Management and Landfill Symp., Christensen, Cossu, and Stegmann, eds., S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy, 187–196.
Shackelford, C., Benson, C., Katsumi, T., Edil, T., and Lin, L. (2000). “Evaluating the hydraulic conductivity of GCLs permeated with non-standard liquids.” Geotext. Geomembr., 18, 133–161.
Spurr, A. R. (1969). “A low-viscosity epoxy resin embedding medium for electron microscopy.” J. Ultrastruct. Res., 26, 31–43.
Tchoubar, D., Rousseaux, F., Pons, C.-H., and Lemonnier, M. (1978). “Small angle scattering setting at L.U.R.E.: Description and results.” Nucl. Instrum. Methods, 152, 301–305.
Tessier, D. (1984). Etude expérimentale de l’organisation des matériaux argileux. Hydratation, gonflement et structuration au cours de la dessiccation et de la réhumectation. Editions of the French National Institute of Agronomy (INRA), Versailles, France (in French).
Touret, O., Pons, C.-H., Tessier, D., and Tardy, Y. (1990). “Etude de la répartition de l’eau dans les argiles saturées aux fortes teneurs en eau.” Clay Miner., 25, 217–233 (in French).
Witt, K., and Siegmund, M. (2001). “Laboratory testing of GCL under changing humidity.” Proc., Sardinia-2001, 8th International Waste Management and Landfill Symp., Christensen, Cossu, and Stegmann, eds., S. Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy, 198–205.
Zanzinger, H., Koerner, R. M., and Gartung, E., eds., (2002). Proc., International Symp. on Clay Geosynthetic Barriers, Nuremberg, Germany, Balkema Publisher, Lisse, The Netherlands.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 6 • June 2005
Pages: 740 - 749
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 1, 2004
Accepted: Sep 23, 2004
Published online: Jun 1, 2005
Published in print: Jun 2005
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.