A Study On The Influence Of Sodium Salt Solution On The Atterberg Limits And Swelling Of Bentonite Clay

Abstract

Due to industrialization and subsequent rise in urbanisation, our groundwater system and geoenvironmental reserves are getting degraded due to detrimental effects of industrial wastes discarded off into the geo-environment. Basic components like water, air and soil all get degraded resulting unacceptable loss of their natural virtues like purity, renewability, stability, sustainability and tolerability. Major industrial effluents like salt solutions, chemicals, artificial dyes, heavy metals, pharmaceutical residues and sewages etc., are posing the major problems for the ecosystem and their subparts. Since, bentonite clay has peculiar characteristics of high swelling and high pollutant absorbing capacity along with low hydraulic conductivity, it is used as a geotechnical clay liner. However, the geotechnical parameters of bentonite get affected on interaction with cations present in salt solutions. This investigation was carried out in order to observe the influences of salt solutions on bentonite and the results obtained depicts that the varying salt concentrations have a definite influence on Atterberg limits, swelling of bentonite.