Effect of Municipal Solid Waste Leachate on Hydraulic Conductivity and Exchange Complex of Geosynthetic Clay Liners
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 4
Abstract
Tests were conducted to assess how permeation with synthetic and real municipal solid waste (MSW) leachate affects the hydraulic conductivity and exchange complex of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs). GCLs were arranged in a composite barrier configuration for hydration on moist compacted subgrades for 30 or 90 days. After hydration, the geomembrane and subgrade soil were removed and the GCLs were permeated with typical and strong synthetic and real MSW leachates at different confining stresses for 342 to 1,281 days (4.9 to 148.9 pore volumes of flow). For most tests, hydraulic and chemical termination criteria were met (referred to as equilibrium), and in many cases the tests were conducted long after these criteria were achieved. Hydraulic conductivity of the GCLs increased no more than 5.6 times the hydraulic conductivity to deionized water (DIW), even though more than 80% of the sodium (Na) in the bentonite was replaced by other cations [predominantly calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)]. Very long testing times can be required to reach equilibrium, especially at higher stresses. However, the combined effects of stress and cation exchange can be evaluated conservatively and more rapidly by first permeating the GCL to equilibrium at low stress, and then increasing the stress to simulate field conditions. Hydraulic conductivities obtained using this approach are no more than three times hydraulic conductivities obtained at equilibrium under elevated stress. Adding a requirement for equality of effluent and influent cation concentrations results in hydraulic conductivities to MSW leachate representative of long-term conditions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
CETCO, the National Science Foundation (Grant No. CMMI-0625850), and the U.S. DOE provided financial support for this study. U.S. DOE support was provided under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC01-06EW07053 entitled “Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation III.” Waste Management provided the leachate data. The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of CETCO, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. DOE, or Waste Management. Andrew Phillips, Cole Christiansen, Missy Setz, Amara Meier, Erin Berns, and Ross Tipton contributed to this study through the Undergraduate Research Experience in Geological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
References
Ashmawy, A. K., El-Hajji, D., Sotelo, N., and Muhammad, N. (2002). “Hydraulic performance of untreated and polymer-treated bentonite in inorganic landfill leachates.” Clays Clay Miner., 50(5), 546–552.
ASTM. (2003). “Standard test method for measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous materials using a flexible wall permeameter.” D5084-03, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2006a). “Standard specification for reagent water.” D1193-06, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2006b). “Standard test method for swell index of clay mineral component of geosynthetic clay liners.” D5890-06, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2007). “Standard test method for particle-size analysis of soils.” D422-63, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2009a). “Standard guide for screening clay portion of geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) for chemical compatibility to liquids.” D6141-09, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2009b). “Standard test method for measuring mass per unit of geosynthetic clay liners.” D5993-99, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2010a). “Standard test method for measuring the exchange complex and cation exchange capacity of inorganic fine-grained soils.” D7503-10, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2010b). “Standard test methods for liquid limit, plastic limit, and plasticity index of soils.” D4318-10, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2011). “Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (Unified Soil Classification System).” D2487-11, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2012a). “Standard test method for evaluation of hydraulic properties of geosynthetic clay liners permeated with potentially incompatible aqueous solutions.” D6766-12, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2012b). “Standard test methods for laboratory compaction characteristics of soil using standard effort ( ()).” D698-12, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bradshaw, S., and Benson, C. (2011). “Effect of cation exchange during subgrade hydration and municipal solid waste leachate permeation on the hydraulic conductivity of geosynthetic clay liners.” Geotechnics Rep. 11-9, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.
Bradshaw, S. L., Benson, C. H., and Scalia, J., IV. (2013). “Hydration and cation exchange during subgrade hydration and effect on hydraulic conductivity of geosynthetic clay liners.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 526–538.
Clesceri, L., Greenberg, A., and Eaton, A., eds. (1998). Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 20th Ed., American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, 3–8.
Daniel, D. E., Bowders, J. J., and Gilbert, R. B. (1997). “Laboratory hydraulic conductivity testing of GCLs in flexible-wall permeameters.” Testing and acceptance criteria for geosynthetic clay liners, STP 1308, L. Well, ed., ASTM, West Conshohocken, PA, 208–228.
Dreimanis, A. (1962). “Quantitative gasometric determination of calcite and dolomite by using Chittick apparatus.” J. Sediment. Res., 32(3), 520–529.
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., Int. Symp. on Clay Geosynthetic Barriers, H. Zanzinger, R. Koerner, and E. Gartung, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 141–153.
Francisca, F. M., and Glatstein, D. A. (2010). “Long term hydraulic conductivity of compacted soils exposed to landfill leachate.” Appl. Clay Sci., 49(3), 187–193.
Grim, R. E. (1968). Clay mineralogy, McGraw Hill, New York, 467.
Guyonnet, D., et al. (2005). “Geosynthetic clay liner interaction with leachate: Correlation between permeability, microstructure, and surface chemistry.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 740–749.
Guyonnet, D., et al. (2009). “Performance-based indicators for controlling geosynthetic clay liners in landfill applications.” Geotext. Geomembr., 27(5), 321–331.
Hach. (2003). “Nitrogen, ammonia salicylate TNT method.” Method 10031, Water analysis handbook, Loveland, CO.
Jo, H. Y., Benson, C. H., and Edil, T. B. (2004). “Hydraulic conductivity and cation exchange in non-prehydrated and prehydrated bentonite permeated with weak inorganic salt solutions.” Clays Clay Miner., 52(6), 661–679.
Jo, H. Y., Benson, C. H., Shackelford, C. D., Lee, J. M., and Edil, T. B. (2005). “Long-term hydraulic conductivity of a geosynthetic clay liner permeated with inorganic salt solutions.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 405–417.
Jo, H. Y., Katsumi, T., Benson, C. H., and Edil, T. B. (2001). “Hydraulic conductivity and swelling of nonprehydrated GCLs permeated with single-species salt solutions.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 557–567.
Kjeldsen, P., Barlaz, M. A., Rooker, A. P., Baun, A., Ledin, A., and Christensen, T. H. (2002). “Present and long-term composition of MSW landfill leachate: A review.” Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol., 32(4), 297–336.
Kolstad, D. C., Benson, C. H., and Edil, T. B. (2004). “Hydraulic conductivity and swell of nonprehydrated geosynthetic clay liners permeated with multispecies inorganic solutions.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1236–1249.
Lin, L., and Benson, C. (2000). “Effect of wet-dry cycling on swelling and hydraulic conductivity of GCLs.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 40–49.
Meer, S., and Benson, C. (2007). “Hydraulic conductivity of geosynthetic clay liners exhumed from landfill final covers.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 550–563.
Mesri, G., and Olson, R. E. (1971). “Mechanisms controlling the permeability of clays.” Clays Clay Miner., 19, 151–158.
Mitchell, J. K., and Soga, K. (2005). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Moore, D. M., and Reynolds, R. C., Jr. (1989). X-ray diffraction and the identification and analysis of clay minerals, Oxford University Press, New York.
Petrov, R. J., and Rowe, R. K. (1997). “Geosynthetic clay liner (GCL)-chemical compatibility by hydraulic conductivity testing and factors impacting its performance.” Can. Geotech. J., 34(6), 863–885.
Rauen, T. L., and Benson, C. H. (2008). “Hydraulic conductivity of a geosynthetic clay liner permeated with leachate from a landfill with leachate recirculation.” Proc., Geoamericas, International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), Jupiter, FL, 76–83.
Ruhl, J. L., and Daniel, D. E. (1997). “Geosynthetic clay liners permeated with chemical solutions and leachates.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 369–381.
Shackelford, C. D., Benson, C. H., Katsumi, T., Edil, T. B., and Lin, L. (2000). “Evaluating the hydraulic conductivity of GCLs permeated with non-standard liquids.” Geotext. Geomembr., 18(2–4), 133–161.
Shan, H. Y., and Daniel, D. E. (1991). “Results of laboratory tests on a geotextile/bentonite liner material.” Proc. Geosynthetics 1991, Industrial Fabrics Association International, St. Paul, MN, 517–535.
Shan, H. Y., and Lai, Y. J. (2002). “Effect of hydrating liquid on the hydraulic properties of geosynthetic clay liners.” Geotext. Geomembr., 20(1), 19–38.
Thiel, R. S., and Criley, K. (2005). “Hydraulic conductivity of partially prehydrated GCLs under high effective confining stress for three real leachates.” Proc., Geo-Frontiers 2005: Waste containment and remediation, ASCE, Reston, VA, 1-11.
U.S. EPA (USEPA). (1996). “Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry.” 6010B, Washington, DC.
U.S. EPA (USEPA). (2007a). “Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry.” 6010C, Washington, DC.
U.S. EPA (USEPA). (2007b). “Test methods for evaluating solid waste, physical/chemical methods.” SW-846, Washington, DC.
Vasko, S., Jo, H. Y., Benson, C. H., Edil, T. B., and Katsumi, T. (2001). “Hydraulic conductivity of partially prehydrated geosynthetic clay liners permeated with aqueous calcium chloride solutions.” Proc. Geosynthetics 2001, Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), Roseville, MN, 685–699.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 27, 2012
Accepted: Oct 2, 2013
Published online: Oct 4, 2013
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 3, 2014
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.