NEXT GENERATION LEAK LOCATION IN HDPE LINERS IN LANDFILLS AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE INFRASTRUCTURES

摘要

Effective, reliable and long-lasting environmental protection of sensitive infrastructures such as solid & liquid waste landfills, tank farms for the storage of oil, fuels or chemicals, mining operations and many others are heavily dependent on the installation of hydraulic barrier systems. Not just in landfills polymeric -predominantly HDPE - geomembranes, usually supported by other geosynthetic materials, have taken the key role to prevent a contamination of the soil, ground- and surface water as well as the atmosphere. High quality polymeric geomembranes are accepted as state-of-the-art fluid barriers, which can last for durations of > 100 years, if carefully formulated, produced and installed. However certain concerns remain regarding post-installation damages of such barriers. Consequently various leak location techniques have been developed and improved, especially during the last 2 decades. Thus today many different systems allow for an electric liner integrity survey (ELIS) of conventional - and more precisely and reliably - of electrically conductive geomembranes. State-of-the-art leak location systems provide significant advantages for various industries when it comes to risk assessment and long-term mitigation, especially since environmental policy guidelines will continue to translate into higher expectations for issuing operational permits, requiring the use of best available technologies (BAT).