Development of a high-resolution 3D geological model for landfill leachate risk assessment

Høyer, Anne‐Sophie; Klint, Knud Erik S.; Fiandaca, Gianluca; Maurya, Pradip Kumar; Christiansen, A.V.; Balbarini, Nicola; Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup; Hansen, Tom Birch; Møller, Ingelise

doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.12.015

Cited by 43 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…Therefore, the required level of protection is often unclear. Because boundary limits for design are normally lacking, one option could be a risk-based approach, e.g., [98][99][100][101]. In the design phase, the relevant authorities could set a limit (e.g., mg/L or mg/kg) on the amount of harmful contaminants that the mine operator is allowed to release to the environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Geomembrane Liners to Reduce Seepage through the Base of Tailings Ponds—A Review and a Framework for Design Guidelines

et al. 2021

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Geomembranes are used worldwide as basin liners in tailings ponds to decrease the permeability of the foundation and prevent further transportation of harmful contaminants and contaminated water. However, leakage into the environment and damage to the geomembrane have been reported. This paper reviews available literature and recommendations on geomembrane structures for use as a basal liner in tailings ponds, and presents a framework to achieve early involvement and an integrated approach to geomembrane structure design. Cohesive planning guidelines or legislative directions for such structures are currently lacking in many countries, which often means that the structure guidelines for groundwater protection or landfill are applied when designing tailings storage facilities (TSF). Basin structure is generally unique to each mine but, based on the literature, in the majority of cases the structure has a single-composite liner. The type of liner system used depends mainly on the material to be used on top of the structure, local hydraulic pressure gradient, and climate conditions. More practical information and scientific knowledge on the use of base liners in various cases are needed. A sustainable approach could be risk-based design, where the life cycle of the basin is taken into consideration. To this end, this paper proposes geomembrane-lined tailings pond to be assessed as a stakeholder. Emphasis on this, early enough, can ensure critical factors for tailings ponds to be considered from the outset in the design of mines and reduces the environmental footprint of the mining industry. More holistic project management and early involvement and integration are recommended to improve construction quality during the entire life cycle of the pond. In the long term, use of dry stacking or other alternative methods should be encouraged, despite the higher costs for operators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Geomembrane Liners to Reduce Seepage through the Base of Tailings Ponds—A Review and a Framework for Design Guidelines

et al. 2021

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“…The voxel modelling approach has typically been chosen in studies where highly detailed models are needed (e.g., Høyer et al 2019) and/or in areas with high geological complexity that are difficult to model satisfactorily with the layer modelling approach (Høyer et al 2015). It is assumed that because the heterogeneity of the voxel model is not limited by an initial choice of number of layers, it is more appropriate in areas of complex geology, whereas the layer modelling approach is only appropriate in areas of layered sedimentary strata.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of layer and voxel geological modelling strategy on groundwater modelling results

et al. 2022

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Reliable groundwater model predictions are dependent on representative models of the geological environment, which can be modelled using several different techniques. In order to inform the choice of the geological modelling technique, the differences between a layer modelling approach and a voxel modelling approach were analyzed. The layer model consists of stratigraphically ordered surfaces, while the voxel model consists of a structured mesh of volumetric pixels. Groundwater models based on the two models were developed to investigate their impact on groundwater model predictions. The study was conducted in the relatively data-dense area Egebjerg, Denmark, where both a layer model and a voxel model have been developed based on the same data and geological conceptualization. The characteristics of the two methodologies for developing the geological models were shown to have a direct impact on the resulting models. The differences between the layer and the voxel models were, however, shown to be diverse and not related to larger conceptual elements, with few exceptions. The analysis showed that the geological modelling approaches had an influence on preferred parameter values and thereby groundwater model predictions of hydraulic head, groundwater budget terms and particle tracking results. A significance test taking into account the predictive distributions showed, that for many predictions, the differences between the models were significant. The results suggest that the geological modelling strategy has an influence on groundwater model predictions even if based on the same geological conceptualization.

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“…Examples of such cognitive structural modeling to form 3D structural geological models can e.g. be found in Bosch et al (2009), Jørgensen et al (2013Jørgensen et al ( , 2015, Oldenborger et al (2014) and Høyer et al (2015Høyer et al ( , 2019. The popularity of the cognitive approach may be attributed to the easy and intuitive integration of geological knowledge (Wycisk et al 2009;Jørgensen et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Choosing between Gaussian and MPS simulation: the role of data information content—a case study using uncertain interpretation data points

Madsen

Møller

Hansen

2021

Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess

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Integration of geophysical data with information such as from boreholes and expert domain knowledge is often performed as cognitive or explicit geological modeling when generating deterministic geological models of the subsurface. However, such cognitive geological models lack the ability to express the uncertainty of layer boundaries. To remedy the shortcomings of this strategy we propose a novel stochastic methodology combining the efforts of probabilistic data integration and cognitive modeling. We treat geological interpretation points from the cognitive model as uncertain “soft” data. These data are then combined with analogous geology in a probabilistic model. We test two ways of combining and sampling from such a probabilistic model. Firstly, a high-entropy setup based on Gaussian distributions simulation. Secondly, lower entropy (and conceivable more realistic) geological solutions are obtained from multiple-point geostatistics (MPS). We apply both ways of solving the problem at a study site near Horsens, Denmark, where airborne transient electromagnetic measurements, seismic data, and borehole information are available and interpreted in cognitive modeling. We explain the complete framework for integrating the uncertain interpretations in geostatistical simulation. Results show that both the Gaussian simulation and multiple-point geostatistical approach allows satisfactory simulations of uncertain geological interpretations and are consistent with prior geological knowledge. Our results suggest that the number of uncertain data points and their information content play a pivotal role in selecting the most appropriate simulation method for the given framework. MPS simulations allow connectivity in scenarios with few data points due to the low entropy of the model. When the number of soft data increases, Gaussian simulation is less prone to produce simulation artifacts, faster to apply, and could be considered preferential to using MPS simulation.

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Development of a high-resolution 3D geological model for landfill leachate risk assessment

Cited by 43 publications

References 63 publications

Using Geomembrane Liners to Reduce Seepage through the Base of Tailings Ponds—A Review and a Framework for Design Guidelines

Using Geomembrane Liners to Reduce Seepage through the Base of Tailings Ponds—A Review and a Framework for Design Guidelines

The influence of layer and voxel geological modelling strategy on groundwater modelling results

Choosing between Gaussian and MPS simulation: the role of data information content—a case study using uncertain interpretation data points

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