Assessment of Mitigation Measures against Benzene Breakthrough into Subsurface Concrete Pipe
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 12, Issue 1
Abstract
Work in this paper investigates the efficacy of mitigation measures to minimize the contaminant ingress into subsurface concrete pipes. The 3D study model of the concrete pipe and the soil domain are implemented in Visual MODFLOW version 6.1. The site parameters are developed from data for a site in Jacksonville, North Carolina, at which subsurface contamination occurred in the presence of subsurface concrete drainage pipe. Modeling results indicate that after 20 years, the installation of a clay barrier reduces the concentration of benzene within the pipe by 22% compared to no clay barrier case. In comparison, the use of flowable fill leads to a 99.9% reduction in the concentration of benzene breaking through the pipe, and the use of an antiseep collar leads to a 60% reduction in the concentration of benzene. The natural hydraulic gradient of the site affects the level of contamination breaking through the pipe with a smaller breakthrough mass with lower site hydraulic gradients. Additional research is needed to obtain data on the efficacy of the studied mitigation measures through field implementation and performance monitoring with time. Such field implementation and monitoring studies are needed on concrete pipes and mitigation measures installed in saturated and unsaturated subsurface soil profiles.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article.
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the North Carolina DOT. Also, the corresponding author would like to acknowledge the support of the Deanship of Scientific Research at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
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Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 12 • Issue 1 • February 2021
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 30, 2019
Accepted: Aug 5, 2020
Published online: Nov 9, 2020
Published in print: Feb 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Apr 9, 2021
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