A Semi-Analytical Model of Contaminant Transport in Barrier Systems with Arbitrary Numbers of Layers

Abstract

In regions with sanitary landfills, unsuitable liner designs can result in significant soil and groundwater contamination, leading to substantial environmental remediation costs. Addressing this challenge, we propose a semi-analytical model for solute transport that uses the advection–dispersion–reaction equation in a multi-layered liner system. A distinctive feature of our model is its ability to account for infiltration velocity, arbitrary numbers of layers, thin layers such as geomembranes, and mass flow. We validated our model against existing published models and applied it to a case study of a real sanitary landfill in the capital of Brazil. Through parametric analyses, we simulated contaminant transport across various layers, including the geomembrane (GM), geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), soil liner (SL), and compacted clay liner (CCL). The analyses showed the importance of choosing the most appropriate construction system based on the location and availability of materials. Considering toluene contamination, a GM molecular diffusion coefficient (DGM) greater than 10−13 m2 s−1 exhibited similar efficiency when compared with CCL (60 cm thick). In addition, the results showed that the liner system may have the same efficiency in changing SL (60 cm thick) for a GCL (1 cm thick).