Depletion of Antioxidants from a HDPE Geomembrane in a Composite Liner

Abstract

The results of two series of accelerated aging tests are reported. Both series of tests were conducted at temperatures of 85, 70, 55, and 26°C over a period of about 3years. In the simulated liner series, the top of the geomembrane was covered with a geotextile (protection) layer that was exposed to simulated municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate while the bottom of the geomembrane was in contact with a hydrated geosynthetic clay liner. In the immersion series, the geomembrane was immersed in the simulated MSW leachate, and hence, both sides were exposed to leachate. The results from oxidative induction time tests indicate that the antioxidant depletion is about 2.2–4.8 times faster for the leachate immersed geomembrane than for geomembrane in a composite liner. The higher rates are attributed to the higher extraction of antioxidants from two sides of the geomembrane immersed in leachate. The measured antioxidant depletion rates are extrapolated to a range of temperatures (0–60°C) using Arrhenius modeling. At a liner temperature of 35°C, the calculated time for the depletion of antioxidants is about 40years for a geomembrane in a composite liner compared to 10years if it is simply immersed in leachate. These tests suggest that to obtain realistic estimates of geomembrane service life one needs data from tests that simulate the expected field conditions and that prediction based on immersion tests may underestimate the service life.