Hydraulic Flow through Engineering Bentonite-Based Containment Barriers

This article presents the use of software modelling as a tool to study the impact of hydraulic resistivity on the contaminant transport through bentonite-based containment barriers. A sensitivity analysis on the predicted data was carried out by varying the boundary conditions as well as the hydraul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of applied sciences 2015-11, Vol.12 (11), p.785-793
Main Authors: Loh, Eric Wooi Kee, Wijeyesekera, Devapriya Chitral
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer programs
Containment
Contaminants
Cracks
Fluid flow
Hydraulics
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Summary:This article presents the use of software modelling as a tool to study the impact of hydraulic resistivity on the contaminant transport through bentonite-based containment barriers. A sensitivity analysis on the predicted data was carried out by varying the boundary conditions as well as the hydraulic resistance to flow through varying contaminant transport parameters. Accordingly, both advective and diffusive flow processes are considered as that which resists the flow. In particular, the effect on the contaminant migration due to desiccation cracking is explored. Laboratory evidence is provided and discussed to show how the initial microstructure of the clay influences the development of subsequent macro structural features such as shrinkage crack patterns. The effect of these cracks and the intensity of cracking on the contaminant migration are modelled and pragmatically discussed. Additionally, the effect on the hydraulic conductivity of bentonite-based barriers, when permeated with non-standard liquids is discussed and a typical analytical output is presented.
ISSN:1546-9239
1554-3641
DOI:10.3844/ajassp.2015.785.793