Leakage through a hole in a geomembrane liner for tailings dams

2010年，加拿大的矿业产值为360亿美元，直接占经济总量的3.5%（加拿大统计局）。矿物开采产生的固体废物副产品需要以可持续的方式加以管理，以维持和发展这一重要的经济活动。这些废物大多是残余的土壤大小颗粒和水的最终产物，称为尾矿。尾矿管理设施是大型蓄水池，用于以安全、环境可接受和经济上可行的方式处置尾矿。越来越需要使用土工膜来铺设尾矿管理设施，目的是尽量减少从蓄水池泄漏到周围环境的流体数量。土工膜是一种薄塑料片材，用于城市固体废物填埋场，可显著加强环境保护。但是，对尾矿管理设施进行合理设计和长期评价的具体数据很少。特别是很少知道有多少流体可能会通过土工膜逃逸或泄漏。因此，Klohn Crippen Berger和女王大学之间的新合作伙伴关系的目标是为土工膜衬砌尾矿管理系统的设计建立技术基础，以最大限度地减少流体泄漏到周围环境。将利用Queen's现有的专业设备进行独特的大规模实验，在现实物理条件下，使用真实材料量化土工膜孔渗漏量。有关影响渗漏因素的新知识和预测渗漏的适当技术将转移到加拿大岩土工程咨询行业，并应用于更好地管理采矿产生的废物。拟议研究的新发现和知识预计将导致土工膜衬砌尾矿管理系统，这将提供更有效，可靠和具有成本效益的环境保护。该研究还将为一名博士生和一名岩土工程技术员提供高级培训。

At 36 billion dollars in 2010, Canada's mining industry directly accounted for 3.5% of our economy (Stats Can). The solid waste by-products generated by mineral extraction need to be managed in a sustainable manner to maintain and grow this significant economic activity. Most of these wastes are remnant soil size particles and water end products that are called tailings. Tailings management facilities are large impoundments that are used to dispose of tailings in a safe, environmentally acceptable and economically feasible manner. There is a growing demand for the use of geomembranes to line tailings management facilities with the objective of minimizing the quantity of fluid escaping from the impoundments to the surrounding environment. Geomembranes are thin plastic sheets that are used to significantly enhance environmental protection in municipal solid waste landfills. However, there is little specific data to permit their rational design and long-term assessment for tailings management facilities. In particular little is known about how much fluid may be expected to escape or leak through the geomembrane. Thus the objective of this new partnership between Klohn Crippen Berger and Queen's University is to establish a technical basis for design of geomembrane lined tailing management systems to minimize fluid leakage into the surrounding environment. Unique large-scale experiments will be conducted with specialized existing equipment at Queen's to quantify the quantity of leakage through holes in the geomembrane using real materials under realistic physical conditions. New knowledge regarding the factors affecting leakage and appropriate techniques to predict leakage will be transferred to Canadian geotechnical consulting industry and applied to better manage mining generated wastes. New findings and knowledge from the proposed research are expected to lead to geomembrane lined tailing management systems that will provide more effective, reliable and cost-effective environmental protection. The research will also provide advanced training for a PhD student and a Geotechnical Engineering Technician.