Hydraulic Barriers in Environmental Containment Systems

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1281

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Interests: emerging contaminant; waste containment system; waste management; contaminant fate and transport; unsaturated soil; life cycle assessment
School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
Interests: high-level radioactive waste; landfill; conservation of ancient earthen architectures; weathering of ancient earthen architectures
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Interests: unsaturated soil; geoenvironmental engineering; landfill gas; waste management; high-level radioactive waste management
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydraulic barriers are critical for the safe disposal of wastes in environmental containment systems. Environmental containment systems include but are not limited to (1) landfills for municipal solid waste, industrial waste, or hazardous waste; (2) tailings for mining waste; (3) containment facilities for low-level radioactive waste; and (4) geological repositories for high-level radioactive waste. Different systems have different requirements for hydraulic barriers, and the compatibility between the barriers and waste forms and the environment is complicated. Coupled processes (e.g., bio-chemical–physical, thermos–hydro‐mechanical, multiphase flow, etc.) occur during the long-term service of the barriers, adding complexity for the prediction and evaluation of the performance of hydraulic barriers. Emerging contaminants (e.g., PFAS, nanoplastics, etc.) are also challenging the performance of hydraulic barriers. Understanding the performance of hydraulic barriers in the real-world environment is essential for engineering design and the post-closure care of containment facilities.

This Special Issue on “Hydraulic Barriers in Environmental Containment Systems” will curate novel advances in research and engineering practices to understand the performance of hydraulic barriers in the real-world environment. Research based on laboratory experiments, mathematical modeling, numerical simulation, field testing, case studies, and critical reviews is all welcome, but the research should have a clear and significant potential/contribution for practical application.

Topics include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Reliability of hydraulic barriers for emerging contaminants (e.g., PFAS, nanoplastics, etc.);
  • Impact of extreme weather events (e.g., drought, flood, hurricane, wildfires, etc.) on hydraulic barriers;
  • Contaminant fate and transport through hydraulic barriers;
  • Degradation of hydraulic barriers;
  • Advanced materials for hydraulic barriers;
  • Life-cycle environmental impact assessment for hydraulic barriers.

Dr. Yu Tan
Dr. Ping Liu
Dr. Yuan Feng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • hydraulic barrier
  • coupled processes
  • compatibility
  • emerging contaminant
  • fate and transport
  • extreme weather event
  • sustainability

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 3243 KB  
Article
Hydraulic Performance of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose-Amended Bentonite in Vertical Cutoff Walls for Containing Acid Mine Drainage
by Xingling Dong, Bao Wang and Yehao Hu
Processes 2025, 13(12), 3866; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13123866 - 30 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 587
Abstract
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC) was used to improve the chemical compatibility of natural sodium bentonite (NaB) used in vertical cutoff walls for containing acid mine drainage (AMD). Ab Na-CMC content from 2% to 15% was examined to determine the minimum Na-CMC content of [...] Read more.
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (Na-CMC) was used to improve the chemical compatibility of natural sodium bentonite (NaB) used in vertical cutoff walls for containing acid mine drainage (AMD). Ab Na-CMC content from 2% to 15% was examined to determine the minimum Na-CMC content of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose-amended bentonite (CMCAB) needed to yield a low hydraulic conductivity (<10−9 m/s). Hydraulic conductivity (k), swell index, viscosity, XRD spectra, FT-IR spectra, and microstructures were measured for CMCAB to assess the hydraulic performance of CMCAB for containing AMD and to elucidate the mechanism of reduced k due to the addition of Na-CMC. The results show that the k of CMCAB decreased with the increase in Na-CMC content and stress. A 10% or higher content of Na-CMC is required to reduce the k of NaB down to 10−9 m/s. Na-CMC did not impact the interlayer structure of NaB but increased the viscosity of CMCAB. CMCAB with increased viscosity retained the Na-CMC within the pore spaces, narrowing the flow paths for AMD and yielding low k. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydraulic Barriers in Environmental Containment Systems)
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