Performance of bituminous geomembrane in mining applications

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Management of mining waste in both a safe and environmentally acceptable manner is essential for continued activity in this important sector of Canada's economy-worth $57B in 2014. A special feature about these mining applications is the considerably high vertical stresses imposed on the geosynthetic liner that can result in puncturing the thin plastic liner and migration of the containment of the harmful chemicals to the surrounding environment. Thicker and yet flexible liners such as Bituminous Geomembranes (BGMs) are often considered to be favourable for such applications and currently used despite a lack of knowledge of their behaviour. A recent research contract by the applicants and industry partner, Titan, initiated a very preliminary investigation into the puncture resistance of BGMs and is expected to be of significant benefit of exploring their physical response under stresses in mining application. Industry also needs to know how well BGMs can resist degradation compared to the traditional polymeric geomembranes and how effective BGM sheets can be welded on site without providing a weak zone between BGM panels to ensure the long-term performance of such liners in reducing subsurface seepage from the mining storage facilities into the surrounding environment. The proposed research will use industrial funding to conduct fundamentally new experiments to assess BGM aging with time and possible change in its properties together with the physical and the chemical response of BGM welds. NSERC funding will be used to: (1) understand the fundamental mechanism by which puncturing occurs or, alternatively, what are the mechanism by which BGM resist leakage in situations where traditional polymeric geomembranes do puncture and leak; (2) explore how best to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of the seams between adjacent panels of BGM; (3) investigate how best to evaluate the service life of a BGMs. The new research will enable more effective and economical environmental protection for mining waste and will provide advanced training for a Masters and a PhD student. .