Permanent electric leak location systems and their application on liquid containment tanks in the mining and landfill industries

摘要

Investments in infrastructure and processes in mining are driven by targets like the increase of productivity, lifespan and environmental protection. Increases in these targets is accompanied by the increased use of geomembranes which is primarily to avoid loss of pregnant solution, which otherwise decreases process profitability and asset life. The associated contamination of the environment can then require further large scale capital investment. The same situation exists with landfill constructions. The role of electric leak location (ELL) systems is to provide information about the integrity of the installed geomembranes allowing clients, installers, or governments to have a competent appreciation of the quality of completed projects. In the case of the permanent ELL systems, data is collected from permanently installed sensor arrays, typically installed during construction: beneath a single geomembrane; or between two geomembranes; or even above geomembranes. Geomembrane integrity testing of permanent ELL can be performed at any time after installation and most importantly during the operational life of the facility as waste, liquid, or any other material is placed in / on containment.