Improving Performance of Geosynthetics for Containment of Volatile OrganicCompounds through the Use of Ethylene Vinyl Alcohol (EVOH)

摘要

The inclusion of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer by coextrusioninto geosynthetic liners would greatly reduce diffusive migration of volatile organiccompounds (VOC’s). The primary function of a geosynthetic liner system in ageoenvironmental application is containment of liquids and vapor that should notmigrate into the surrounding environment. Existing monolithic geomembranescomprised of polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinylchloride are excellenthydraulic and heavy metal barriers, but are not good barriers to volatile organiccompounds that pose a threat to soil, water and air quality. In a composite withpolyethylene or polypropylene, EVOH would dramatically improve the capability ofgeosynthetics to control the diffusion of gases, hydrocarbons and solvents inapplications ranging from waste landfills, secondary containment, radon and vaporintrusion barriers and brown field remediation. A comparison of the properties andperformance of model geosynthetics incorporating EVOH showed that EVOHimproves VOC barrier properties by several orders of magnitude withoutsubstantially affecting key form and functionality of existing geomembranes.