Improving the permeability and adsorption of phenol by organophilic clay in clay liners

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of five different combinations including: sand 70%, bentonite 30% (S₇₀B₃₀)- sand 80%, bentonite 20% (S₈₀B₂₀)- sand 80%, organophilic 20% (S₈₀M₂₀)- sand 60%, bentonite 20%, organophilic 20% (S₆₀B₃₀M₂₀) and sand 75% - bentonite 15% - organophilic 10% (S₇₅B₁₅M₁₀) on landfill linear structure in order to decrease phenol leaching. Hydraulic conductivity and adsorption behavior of the samples were investigated. The results demonstrated that the lowest hydraulic conductivity coefficient ($1.16{\times}10^{-11}{\frac{m}{s}}$) was obtained for S₇₀B₃₀. Furthermore, adding more than 20% of bentonite had no significant effect on reducing permeability. Moreover, Freundlich isotherm was introduced as the best model explaining adsorption behaviour due to its highest determination coefficient (0.945). The best samples for adsorption capacity of phenol and for both permeability and adsorption are S₈₀M₂₀ and S₆₀B₃₀M₂₀, respectively. Although the presence of bentonite was effective in reducing hydraulic conductivity, organic clay had no considerable impact on reducing permeability. Though, it's an exceptional role in adsorbing organic contaminants including phenol cannot be ignored. To meet all regulatory constraints, the optimal compound is made up of 10.2% of bentonite and 2.8% of organophilic clays with a minimized cost of 13.64 ($/ton).