Barrier systems engineering for environmental protection from emerging contaminants of concern

加拿大每年在收集和处理废物方面的支出超过20亿美元。屏障系统由土工合成粘土衬里(一层薄薄的低渗透粘土)和天然土层组成，由土工膜衬里(一层薄塑料板)和天然土层组成，用于衬砌用于矿物开采的填土和堆浸设施的底部。用于黄金和铜矿开采)。屏障系统的目的是通过最大限度地减少有毒化学物质逃逸到周围环境中来防止地下水污染。目前用于容纳城市废物的屏障系统是以重金属和碳氢化合物为主要污染物而开发的。然而，还有一些新出现的令人担忧的污染物，如纳米颗粒、淋洗的塑料稳定剂和溴化阻燃剂--人们越来越担心它们可能会释放到环境中。关于目前屏障系统遏制这些污染物的有效性，人们几乎一无所知。另一个重要的问题是，塑料土工膜将在多长时间内成为遏制新出现的令人担忧的污染物的有效屏障。这个项目提供了一个回答这些问题的机会，我们在过去几年中一直在发展一种系统工程方法，以解决一个重大的国家问题，即确保地表水和地下水的健康和安全，从而研究这些新污染物。该项目的实验结果将用于优化建模，作为对现有设计进行系统工程评估的一部分，并用于改进的屏障系统设计。这项研究汇集了大学研究人员、工程顾问、衬垫制造商和监管机构，他们将努力帮助改善屏障系统的性能，以遏制新出现的令人担忧的污染物。这项研究将由4名博士和2名硕士学生、1名博士后研究员和1名技术人员进行，他们将通过行业合作伙伴的积极参与获得专门的研究培训和实践经验。

Canada annually spends over $2 billion in collection and disposal of waste. Barrier systems - comprised of a geomembrane liner (a thin plastic sheet) overlying a geosynthetic clay liner (a thin layer of low permeability clay) and a natural soil layer - are used to line the bottom of land fills and heap-leaching facilities used in mineral extraction (eg. for gold and copper mining). The purpose of the barrier system is to prevent groundwater contamination by minimizing the escape of toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. Barrier systems presently used to contain municipal waste were developed with heavy metals and hydrocarbons as the main contaminants of concern. However, there are new emerging contaminants of concern like nanoparticles, leached plastic stabilizers and brominated flame retardants - where there is growing concern about their potential release into the environment. Virtually nothing is known about the effectiveness of current barrier systems to contain these contaminants. Another important question is how long will plastic geomembranes act as an effective barrier to contain emerging contaminants of concern. This project presents an opportunity to answer these questions by examining these new contaminants in the context of a systems engineering approach, which we have been developing over the past few years, to address a problem of major national importance; namely ensuring the health and security of surface water and groundwater. The experimental findings from this project will be used in optimization modelling to be conducted as part of the systems engineering evaluation of existing designs and in the development of improved barrier system designs. The research brings together university researchers, engineering consultants, liner manufacturers and regulators who will work to help improve the performance of barrier systems to contain emerging contaminants of concern. The research will be conducted by 4 PhD and 2 Masters students, 1 Postdoctoral fellow and 1 technician who will obtain specialized research training and gain practical experience through the active involvement of the industrial partners.