SUBSURFACE LANDFILL BARRIER: HYDRODYNAMICAL ENHANCED BARRIER SYSTEM (HEBS) FOR LANDFILL SITES REMEDIATION

An eight month study is proposed on the fundamentals of a new system of subsurface barrier called Hydrodynamic Enhanced Barrier System (HEBS). The mechanism of HEBS is that it can, via oscillatory motion of working fluids or steady state circulating flow, remove contaminants from groundwater accumulated in a subsurface collector at rates exceeding that of pure molecular dispersion by several order of magnitude. This rapid removal of contaminants in groundwater creates a hydrodynamical barrier. Such a hydrodynamical barrier, superimposed on existing slurry wall, effectively prevants hazardous substances from dispersing into surrounding groundwater and/or surface water systems. When operating in oscillating flow mode, the contaminants can be removed from groundwater without pumping the groundwater out, which is especially important for those hazardous-waste landfill sites where the water table is shallow and treatment off-site is difficult or limited. The present study is proposed with the aim to better understand the temporal and spatial behavior of contaminant diffusion and the formation of the hydrodynamical barrier with the Enhanced Mass Pump (EMP) which is the key component in the HEBS.