Hydraulic Performance of Alginate-Based Bentonite

Abstract

Bentonite clay is widely used as a hydraulic barrier in geosynthetic clay liners and cut-off walls. The interaction of the clay with divalent electrolytic solutions such as Ca 2+ or Mg 2+ deteriorates its sealing properties. The treatment of bentonite with polymers has improved its hydraulic properties; however, sustainability concerns have led to the discovery of an alternate polymer. Sodium alginate was used to prepare a new, more sustainable polymerized bentonite clay. The alginate was selected due to its recent laboratory extraction from wastewater. This paper presents the performance of the alginate polymer-based bentonite clay in terms of swelling and hydraulic conductivity. Overall, the preliminary results were optimistic towards the use of alginate in polymerized clay. In short, the clay has the potential to be used as an effective hydraulic barrier in the construction industry, which would promote sustainable development.

Study on the Effect of Desiccation Cracks on the Hydraulic Conductivity of Geosynthetic Clay Liner

“…This includes the liner's physical and hydraulic communication well with components in it, and the materials' time-related changes. A liner is exposed to temperature, as well as stresses/strains similar o part of a physical-environmental system as the scheme ages [6,[11][12][13]. Various researches symbolize the impact of effluents and cracks, which works on hydraulic conductivity of compressed clay liners [5,11,14,15], montmorillonite mixes [16,17], and GCLs [18,19] still directed over the last twenty years.…”