Adsorptive Behavior of Zeolite-Amended Backfills for Enhanced Metals Containment
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 7
Abstract
The containment function of soil-bentonite (SB) cutoff walls can be enhanced when the adsorption capacity of the SB backfill for targeted contaminants is increased. In this regard, the potential use of three commercially available zeolites, i.e., two chabazites and a clinoptilolite, as SB backfill amendments to enhance the adsorption capacity for two metal sorbates, potassium (K) and zinc (Zn), was evaluated via batch equilibrium adsorption testing. The adsorptive behaviors of K and Zn to both the unamended and zeolite-amended backfill sorbents were nonlinear over the concentration ranges of interest. Depending on the specific zeolite, the addition of only 5% zeolite increased the adsorption capacity relative to that for the unamended backfill sorbent by a factor ranging from 6.2 to 7.3 for K and from 2.8 to 3.4 for Zn, whereas 10% zeolite amendment increased the adsorption capacity by a factor ranging from 7.5 to 13.5 for K and 3.1 to 3.7 for Zn. The lower increase in adsorption capacity for Zn relative to K was attributed to preferential selectivity of K relative to Zn. The adsorption behavior of both K and Zn was consistent with cation exchange as the dominant mechanism, provided that the chemical speciation (complexation) of Zn was taken into account. The results show that adding zeolite to SB backfills can enhance the containment of metals via an increase in adsorption capacity, but the enhanced adsorption capacity will be a function of both the metal and the type and amount of zeolite, such that material specific adsorption studies will be required for practical applications.
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Acknowledgments
Financial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Grant No. 0624104. The opinions and recommendations provided in this paper are solely those of the authors and are not necessarily consistent with the policies of NSF. The authors thank Central Builders Supply (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania), GSA Resources (Tucson, Arizona), and Wyo-Ben (Billings, Montana) for donating materials used in this study.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 7 • July 2016
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Sep 6, 2015
Accepted: Dec 2, 2015
Published online: Mar 9, 2016
Published in print: Jul 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Aug 9, 2016
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