Hydraulic barrier system

The landfill liner, cover, and hydraulic barrier all belong to the subsurface pollutant engineered containment system. The liner is designed at the bottom of a landfill to contain downward leachate. The cover is designed at the top of a landfill to prevent precipitation from infiltrating into the landfill. The hydraulic barrier, or cutoff walls, is a vertical compacted earthen system to contain horizontal flow of plume. The ultimate purpose of these barriers is to isolate contaminants from the environment and, therefore, to protect the soil and groundwater from pollution originating in the landfill or polluted site. 

Reinjection of coproduced groundwater through the use of wells is commonly used to return the water to the same aquifer and to set up hydraulic barriers in an effort to contain the plume. Injection wells are commonly used in conjunction with withdrawal systems to enhance the recovery of hydrocarbons. Injecting water at appropriate locations will create a pressure ridge to increase the hydraulic gradient effectively toward the withdrawal point. Normally, the water pumped from the recovery wells is used as the injection water and is injected, without treatment. This method provides an economical way of handling the produced water, as well as being beneficial to the recovery effort. 

The through-flow zone has so far been described in a simplified mode, assuming all the hosting rocks are homogeneously permeable. Deviations from the simplified L-shape of the flow path are caused by the presence of hydraulic barriers, such as clay and shale, that may in certain places block the downflow and create local perched water systems and springs (Fig. 2.16) or cause steps in the path of the lateral flow zone. But the overall L-shape is generally preserved, as the water of perched systems finds pathways to resume the vertical downflow direction. 

The surface waters incised the landscape, forming deep channels that were filled with new terrestrial and marine sediments as the seawater rose again. These deep paleochannels serve, according to the nature of the filling sediments, either as potentially preferred flow paths and preferred underground drainage systems or as hydraulic barriers. 

Abstract Coupled THM simulation of the FEBEX, which is the full-scale in-situ Engineered Barrier System Experiment performed in Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland, is one Task in the international cooperation project DECOVALEX III. In the Task, the simulation of the thermal, hydraulic and mechanical behaviour in the buffer during heating phase is required, e.g. the evolutions and the distributions of stress, relative humidity and temperature at the specified points in bentonite buffer material. 

The FEBEX is the full-scale in-situ Engineered Barrier System (EBS) Experiment performed in Grimsel Test Site (GTS) in Switzerland (enresa (2000)). The simulation of the coupled thermal, hydraulic and mechanical (THM) behaviour of FEBEX is the task of the DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against Experiments) III. 

Abstract Geological disposal of nuclear fuel wastes relies on the concept of multiple barrier systems. In order to predict the performance of these barriers, mathematical models have been developed, verified and validated against analytical solutions, laboratory tests and field experiments within the international DECOVALEX project. These models in general consider the full coupling of thermal (T), hydrological (H) and mechanical (M) processes that would prevail in the geological media around the repository. This paper shows the process of building confidence in the mathematical models by calibration with a reference T-H-M experiment with realistic rock mass conditions and bentonite properties and measured outputs of thermal, hydraulic and mechanical variables. 

Abstract This contribution deals with the modeling of coupled thermal (T), hydraulic (H) and mechanical (M) processes in subsurface structures or barrier systems. We assume a system of three phases a deformable fractured porous medium fully or partially saturated with liquid and a gas which remains at atmospheric pressure. Consideration of the thermal flow problem leads to an extensively coupled problem consisting of an elliptic and parabolic-hyperbolic set of partial differential equations. The resulting initial boundary value problems are outlined. Their finite element representation and the required solving algorithms and control options for the coupled processes are implemented using object-oriented programming in the finite element code RockFlow/RockMech. 

Bamel, N., Lassabat re, T., Le Potier, C., Maugis, P. Mouche, E., 2002 . Impact of a thermal radioactive waste on the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of a clay engineered barrier system. In Auriault, J.-L., et al. (ed.), Poromechanics II, Balkema. 

The temperature rising in the vicinity of the heaters causes an evaporation of liquid. Due to thermal and pressure gradients it comes to a vapour diffusion, which can lead to a strong modification of the humidity distribution in the barrier system. Modifications in the humidity distribution on the other hand directly affect the hydraulic characteristics, since the permeability depends strongly and nonlinearly on the saturation. By cooling it comes to a condensation of water vapour and thus to the increase of water saturation. For the permeation of water from the adjacent rock into the barrier system the characteristics of the multiphase flow are crucial in the contact area of both materials - the contrast in permeability, relative permeability and capillary pressure. For the water flow into the barrier, the subsequent delivery of water is further important due to regional hydraulic gradients. 

Give consideration to the service life of each of the engineered components of the barrier system (primary and secondary leachate collection, liners, hydraulic control layers etc.) with respect to the contaminating life-span of the landfill ... 

Alternative final cover systems, such as the innovative evapotranspiration (ET) cover systems, are increasingly being considered for use at waste disposal sites, including municipal solid waste (MSW) and hazardous waste landfills when equivalent performance to conventional final cover systems can be demonstrated. Unlike conventional cover system designs that use materials with low hydraulic permeability (barrier layers) to minimize the downward migration of water from the cover to the waste (percolation), ET cover systems use water balance components to minimize percolation. These cover systems rely on the properties of soil to store water until it is either transpired through vegetation or evaporated from the soil surface. 

Depending on the material type and construction method, the saturated hydraulic conductivities for these barrier layers are typically between 1 x 10-5 and 1 x 10-9 cm/s. In addition, conventional cover systems generally include additional layers, such as surface layers to prevent erosion protection layers to minimize freeze/thaw damage internal drainage layers and gas collection layers.6 22... 

Capillary barrier cover systems consist of a finer-grained soil layer (like that of a monolithic cover system) overlying a coarser-grained material layer, usually sand or gravel, as shown conceptually in Figure 25.3. The differences in the unsaturated hydraulic properties between the two layers minimize percolation into the coarser-grained (lower) layer under unsaturated conditions. 

Finer-grained materials such as silts and clayey silts are typically used for monolithic ET cover systems and the top layer of a capillary barrier ET cover system because they contain finer particles and provide a greater storage capacity than sandy soils. Sandy soils are typically used for the bottom layer of the capillary barrier cover system to provide a contrast in unsaturated hydraulic properties between the two layers. Many ET covers are constructed of soils that include clay loam, silty loam, silty sand, clays, and sandy loam. 

Hydraulic (Liquid Seal) Flame Arresters Hydraulic (liquid seal) flame arresters are most commonly used in large-pipe-diameter systems where fixed-element flame arresters are either cost-prohibitive or otherwise impractical (e.g., very corrosive gas or where the gas contains solid particles that would quickly plug a conventional arrester element). These arresters contain a liquid, usually water-based, to provide a flame barrier. Figure 23-62 shows one design. Realistic tests are needed to ensure performance, as described in EN 12874 [15]. Note that hydraulic flame arresters may fail at high flow rates, producing a sufficiently high concentration of gas bubbles to allow transmission of flame. This is distinct from the more obvious failure mode caused by failure to maintain adequate liquid level. 

Nuclear Boiler Assembly. This assembly consists of the equipment and instrumentation necessary to produce, contain, and control the steam required by the turbine-generator. The principal components of the nuclear boiler are (1) reactor vessel and internals—reactor pressure vessel, jet pumps for reactor water circulation, steam separators and dryers, and core support structure (2) reactor water recirculation system—pumps, valves, and piping used in providing and controlling core flow (3) main steam lines—main steam safety and relief valves, piping, and pipe supports from reactor pressure vessel up to and including the isolation valves outside of the primary containment barrier (4) control rod drive system—control rods, control rod drive mechanisms and hydraulic system for insertion and withdrawal of the control rods and (5) nuclear fuel and in-core instrumentation,... 

This chapter considers two particular types of sorbing barriers 1) low-permeability slurry walls amended to promote the sorption of hydrophobic compounds (hydraulic conductivity [AT] 10 7 cm/s), and 2) high-conductivity zeolite treatment walls designed to remove inorganic compounds (K 10" cm/s). These examples are selected, in part, because they represent the systems that have received the most attention from researchers and practitioners, but also because considering them together highlights the importance of conceptual issues common to both types of systems. 

Zeolite surface chemistry resembles that of smectite clays. In contrast to clays, however, natural zeolites can occur as millimeter- or greater-sized particles and are free of shrink-swell behavior. As a result, zeolites exhibit superior hydraulic characteristics and are suitable for use in filtration systems (Breck 1974) and as permeable barriers to dissolved chemical migration. Internal and external surface areas up to 800 m2 g have been measured. Total cation exchange capacities in natural zeolites vary from 250 to 3000 meq kg 1 (Ming and Mumpton 1989). External cation exchange capacities have been determined for a few natural zeolites and typically range from 10 to 50 percent of the total cation exchange capacity (Bowman et al. 1995). 

---