Flow Rate Measurement in Multi-Component Geosynthetic Clay Liners

Abstract

To quantify the flow rate through multicomponent geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), three different meter-sized specimens from different manufacturers were characterized in a dedicated experimental column. This study allows quantification of the interface transmissivity of multicomponent GCLs when the coating or attached film is damaged over an area large enough to make edge effects negligible. For all multicomponent GCLs characterized, the coating or attached film was less than 0.7 mm thick. Steady-state results indicated flow rates ranging from 4.61 ×

Flow-rate measurements in meter-size multicomponent geosynthetic clay liners

“…Decimeter-scale results obtained by Bannour et al (2013b) highlight the fact that the flow rate was influenced by the thickness of the polymeric component (i.e., the coating or attached film with or without an additional 2-mm-thick high-density polyethylene "HDPE" GM): the flow rate was one order of magnitude less for a 2-mm-thick HDPE GM on the top of the multicomponent GCL than for no GM. Decimeter-scale flow rates obtained with multicomponent GCLs were one to two orders of magnitude larger compared with those for a GM-GCL composite liner.…”

“…Decimeter-vs meter-scale flow-rate dynamics along multicomponent GCL interfaces Figure 7 compares the decimeter-and meter-scale flow-rate dynamics in multicomponent GCLs from Bannour et al (2013b). The meter-scale steady-state results are one order of magnitude less the decimeter-scale results, as seen in Table 5.…”

“…Experiments using various GCL configurations have determined the flow rates in GM/GCL composite liners (Harpur et al, 1993;Barroso et al, 2006a;2008;Mendes et al 2010;Rowe and Abdellaty, 2012;Bannour et al, 2013a;2013b). In addition, the effect of contact quality at the interface between GM and GCL was evaluated for textured GMs in contact with GCLs (Barroso et al, 2008;Bannour et al, 2013a).…”

“…This study considered the decimeter scale in quantifying the flow rate and the resulting transmissivity in a multicomponent GCL (Bannour et al, 2013b). Two of the multicomponent GCLs tested, with an attached film at their surface, had to be prehydrated under a low hydraulic head to ensure that the flow rates could be measured and would decrease with time as usually occurs in composite liners containing a GCL.…”