CAREER: Coupled Phenomena Resilience and Dynamics in Bentonite Barriers

职业：膨润土屏障中的弹性和动态耦合现象

• 批准号: 2143145
• 负责人: Kristin Sample-Lord
• 金额: $ 50.99万
• 依托单位: Villanova University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-01 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2143145&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Coupled; Phenomena; Resilience; Dynamics

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award will address national and global challenges of water security, environmental protection, and preparation of future STEM professionals. The research focuses on transforming how we measure, predict, and educate others about the long-term performance of clay barriers used for environmental protection. Engineered clay barriers, particularly those utilizing bentonite clay, are commonly used to protect communities and their water resources from pollutants from industrial, municipal, and radioactive wastes. Sustaining performance of protective barriers over time within evolving geoenvironments is critical to preserving national water quality and public health. However, variable chemical, temperature, hydraulic, and stress conditions that occur in bentonite in the field have complex, coupled effects on the rate of contaminant transport through the barrier. Until recently, research on these coupled phenomena has primarily focused on overly-simplified conditions that do not represent the real-world dynamics of clay barriers exposed to wastes. This research includes comprehensive experimental and analytical evaluation of coupled contaminant transport properties of bentonite barriers under more realistic conditions. The results will improve prediction and modeling of how contaminants escape through clay barriers over time, supporting design of resilient barrier systems and improved protection of public health and the environment. The integrated education and research objectives include research experiences for undergraduate students, middle and high school STEM outreach for women and underrepresented groups, and development of an activity library to advance geoenvironmental engineering education. The goal of this research is to advance scientific understanding of how environmental dynamics and coupled phenomena impact long-term resiliency of bentonite-based containment barriers. The project includes advanced experimental measurements of coupled transport properties of bentonites under changing chemical, temperature, hydraulic, and stress conditions for both virgin and field-exhumed samples. The objectives of the integrated research and education plan include: (i) measurement of coupled phenomena and chemical transport properties of traditional and polymer-enhanced bentonites; (ii) improved modelling of coupled mass flux through clays; (iii) undergraduate involvement through mentored research experiences; and (iv) development of a digital activity library to enhance geoenvironmental engineering education. The results will answer fundamental questions about how barrier performance is impacted by evolving chemical-hydraulic-thermal-stress conditions, field exposure, and material enhancement. This project will allow the PI to advance the knowledge base in geotechnical, environmental and water resources engineering, as well as clay science, and support her long-term career in innovative geoenvironmental research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个教师早期职业发展（Career）奖将解决国家和全球在水安全、环境保护和培养未来STEM专业人员方面的挑战。这项研究的重点是改变我们如何衡量、预测和教育他人关于用于环境保护的粘土屏障的长期性能。工程粘土屏障，特别是那些利用膨润土粘土的屏障，通常用于保护社区及其水资源免受工业、城市和放射性废物的污染。在不断变化的地质环境中，长期保持防护屏障的性能对于维护国家水质和公众健康至关重要。然而，在现场，膨润土中发生的各种化学、温度、水力和应力条件对污染物通过屏障的传输速率具有复杂的耦合影响。直到最近，对这些耦合现象的研究主要集中在过于简化的条件下，这些条件不能代表粘土屏障暴露于废物的真实动态。本研究对更现实条件下膨润土屏障的耦合污染物输运特性进行了全面的实验和分析评价。研究结果将改进污染物如何随时间通过粘土屏障逃逸的预测和建模，支持弹性屏障系统的设计，并改善对公众健康和环境的保护。综合教育和研究目标包括为本科生提供研究经验，为妇女和代表性不足的群体提供初中和高中STEM外展服务，以及开发活动库以推进地球环境工程教育。本研究的目的是促进对环境动力学和耦合现象如何影响膨润土基围堵屏障的长期弹性的科学理解。该项目包括对膨润土在变化的化学、温度、水力和应力条件下的耦合输运特性进行先进的实验测量，包括原始样品和现场挖掘样品。综合研究和教育计划的目标包括：(i)测量传统膨润土和聚合物增强膨润土的耦合现象和化学传输特性；改进了通过粘土的耦合质量通量模型；（iii）本科生通过导师的研究经验参与；（iv）发展数码活动图书馆，加强地球环境工程教育。研究结果将回答有关化学-液压-热应力条件、现场暴露和材料增强如何影响屏障性能的基本问题。该项目将使PI能够推进岩土工程，环境和水资源工程以及粘土科学的知识基础，并支持她在创新地球环境研究方面的长期职业生涯。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。