Depletion of Antioxidants from a HDPE Geomembrane in a Composite Liner
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 1
Abstract
The results of two series of accelerated aging tests are reported. Both series of tests were conducted at temperatures of 85, 70, 55, and over a period of about . In the simulated liner series, the top of the geomembrane was covered with a geotextile (protection) layer that was exposed to simulated municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate while the bottom of the geomembrane was in contact with a hydrated geosynthetic clay liner. In the immersion series, the geomembrane was immersed in the simulated MSW leachate, and hence, both sides were exposed to leachate. The results from oxidative induction time tests indicate that the antioxidant depletion is about 2.2–4.8 times faster for the leachate immersed geomembrane than for geomembrane in a composite liner. The higher rates are attributed to the higher extraction of antioxidants from two sides of the geomembrane immersed in leachate. The measured antioxidant depletion rates are extrapolated to a range of temperatures using Arrhenius modeling. At a liner temperature of , the calculated time for the depletion of antioxidants is about for a geomembrane in a composite liner compared to if it is simply immersed in leachate. These tests suggest that to obtain realistic estimates of geomembrane service life one needs data from tests that simulate the expected field conditions and that prediction based on immersion tests may underestimate the service life.
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Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper was funded by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Innovation Trust, the Centre for Research in Earth and Environmental Technologies (an Ontario Center of Excellence), the Ontario Ministry of Environment, and Terrafix Geosynthetics Inc. The writers are grateful to their industrial partners, Solmax International, Terrafix Geosynthetics Inc., Ontario Ministry of Environment, Gartner Lee Ltd., AMEC Earth and Environmental, Golder Associates Ltd., the CTT group, and especially to Terrafix Geosynthetics Inc. (Toronto, Canada) for providing the geosynthetics tested. Support from Dr. Henri P. Sangam in the initial stages of this project is gratefully acknowledged. The value of discussions with Dr. Grace Hsuan are also greatly appreciated.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 1 • January 2008
Pages: 68 - 78
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2006
Accepted: Feb 6, 2007
Published online: Jan 1, 2008
Published in print: Jan 2008
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