The Comparison of Plastic and Permeability Behavior of Bentonite in the Presence of Organic and Heavy Metal Contaminants

Bentonite is a suitable material in engineering landfills due to its low permeability and contaminant sorption ability. The presence of contaminant in pore fluid and its interaction with clay particles, changes the physical and behavioral properties of clays. Organic and heavy metal contaminants are two types of environmental contaminants. Prior researches have shown that organic contaminants compress the double layer due to their low dielectric constant. A compressed double layer makes a larger permeability and lower plasticity properties. In spite of several researches that have been done about organic and heavy metal contaminant interactions with clay minerals, there is lack of study about the difference between the influences of these two contaminants upon soil behaviour. The objective of this paper is to compare the plasticity and permeability changes of bentonite upon interaction with organic (Methanol, Ethanol, Acetic Acid, Dioxane) and heavy metal (Pb and Zn) contaminants.