Influence factor analysis of the electricity-dipole method for landfill leakage detection on HDPE membrane

Abstract

Experiments were performed to investigate the role of electricity-dipole method in landfill leakage detection on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) membrane in terms of the leakage size, ply mode of leachate drainage layer (LDL), and water or leachate invasion. The result indicates that in a dry environment the leakage size equal to or greater than 1.0 cm can be detected precisely. For ply mode of LDL, the mono-sized layer is beneficial to the HDPE leakage detection relative to multi-sized gravel (i.e., coarse-sized gravel in the bottom and fine-sized gravel on the top of the LDL). For the invasion of water, the leakage size equal to or greater than 0.5 cm could be detected precisely. In addition, the influence of electrode above the HDPE membrane on the potential distribution around the leakage is significant. The detectable range close to the electrode above HDPE membrane is smaller than that away from the electrode above the HDPE membrane. The leachate-invaded LDL is beneficial to leakage detection relative to water-invaded or dry LDL. But in field application, sprinkling the LDL surface with water is enough to obtain detection data for precise leakage location.