Contaminant Diffusion through a Novel Coextruded Vapor Barrier
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 12
Abstract
Organic contaminant diffusion through a novel multilayer coextruded vapor barrier is examined for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), trichloroethylene (TCE), and tetrachloroethylene (PCE). The vapor barrier considered is composed of five materials: linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), a tie layer (TL), and a degradation layer (DL). Parameters for the LLDPE, HDPE, TL, and DL are developed using material-specific diffusion tests. Contaminant-specific permeation coefficients () for these materials range from 1.4 to . The diffusion parameters of the EVOH are inferred from testing of a thin (0.0889-mm) coextruded LLDPE/TL/EVOH/TL/EVOH membrane, and the contaminant specific values range from 1.9 to . These individual layer parameters are used to develop a single set of parameters for each contaminant for the entire vapor barrier, with overall contaminant specific values of . The parameters are used to model various vapor intrusion scenarios which show that the multilayer vapor barrier results in significant predicted decreases in airspace concentrations compared to HDPE or no barrier.
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Data Availability Statement
Much of the data not in the paper are in the supplementary material. Other data used during the study are available from the first author by request. The model used in the analysis is commercially available from GAEA Technologies Ltd., Napanee, Ontario, Canada K7R 3M3, [email protected].
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the assistance provided by Dr. P. Saheli and the Analytical Services Unit at Queen’s University, specifically Dr. A. Rutter and P. Whitley.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 12 • December 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 15, 2019
Accepted: Jun 18, 2020
Published online: Sep 25, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 25, 2021
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