Performance of bituminous geomembrane in mining applications

以安全和环境可接受的方式管理采矿废物，对于加拿大这一重要经济部门的持续活动至关重要--2014年价值570亿美元。这些采矿应用的一个特点是，在土工合成衬里上施加了相当高的垂直应力，可能会刺破薄塑料衬里，并将有害化学品的容器迁移到周围环境中。沥青土工膜(BGM)等较厚而又灵活的衬里通常被认为有利于此类应用，尽管对它们的行为缺乏了解，但目前仍在使用。申请者和行业合作伙伴泰坦最近签订了一份研究合同，对BGM的抗穿刺性进行了非常初步的调查，预计这将对探索它们在采矿应用中的压力下的物理反应有很大好处。行业还需要知道，与传统的聚合物土工膜相比，BGM的耐降解性有多好，以及BGM板如何在现场焊接而不在BGM板之间形成薄弱区域，以确保这种衬里在减少从采矿储存设施向周围环境的地下渗漏方面的长期性能。这项拟议的研究将利用工业资金进行全新的实验，以评估BGM随时间老化的情况及其性能可能发生的变化，以及BGM焊接的物理和化学反应。NSERC的资金将用于：(1)了解BGM发生穿孔的基本机制，或者，在传统聚合物土工膜被刺穿和渗漏的情况下，BGM通过什么机制防止渗漏；(2)探索如何最好地评估BGM相邻面板之间接缝的长期有效性；(3)研究如何最好地评估BGM的使用寿命。这项新的研究将使采矿废物的环境保护更加有效和经济，并将为硕士和博士生提供高级培训。。

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. .