Abstract
ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of experiments relating to the partitioning of dissolved organics from dilute aqueous solutions to polymeric flexible membrane liners (FMLs) and their permeation through these liners. In order to simulate partitioning and the transport of waste constituents within and out of a landfill, two sets of experiments were performed. In the first set, samples of an FML that were either unexposed or saturated with an organic were placed in test liquids, including deionized (DI) water, neat organics, and saturated aqueous solutions of organics. In the second set, the partitioning of organics in aqueous solutions to water and air on the other side of FML barriers was measured in a three-compartment closed apparatus. The results of these experiments show that, even at low concentrations in an aqueous solution, some organics can be highly absorbed by a polyethylene (PE) FML, reaching equilibrium concentrations in less than 120 hours. Trichloroethylene (TCE), toluene, and o-xylene migrated from the dilute aqueous solution and penetrated a PE FML and were detected in the airspace above the air and water below the FML barriers in as short a time as 24 hurs after the experiment had begun.
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