2022 journal article
A new monitoring approach for sustainability assessment of subsurface utilities gasket materials against gasoline and chlorinated solvents: Field evaluation and model development
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, 323.
author keywords: Diffusion; Environmental risk-based management; Groundwater; Monitoring tool; Numerical modeling; Pipe gasket; Soil properties
MeSH headings : Gasoline; Benzene; Volatile Organic Compounds; Neoprene; Rubber; Solvents; Soil
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: October 31, 2022
Once installed, underground concrete pipes with rubber gaskets might be exposed to contaminated soil and groundwater. A pipe material monitoring capsule (PMMC) has been developed to evaluate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) breaking through three types of pipe gaskets; Neoprene, Buna-N, and Viton. The PMMCs were deployed in three contaminated sites: two with gasoline and one with chlorinated solvent (CS). A 3-D field-domain numerical model has been developed for each site to calibrate equivalent hydraulic parameters of each gasket material (k e , D) against benzene and PCE diffusion. The calibrated parameters were then used to compute the concentrations as well as rate of breakthrough of the two study contaminants. A protocol was developed for installing/retrieval of PMMCs to monitor PCE and benzene mass breaking through the gasket material with time. Employing PMMC, benzene concentrations breaking through the Neoprene and Buna-N after 4 months were approximately 70% and 60% respectively of the monitoring wells concentration. The corresponding value for PCE breakthrough after 4 months was 60% for both the Neoprene and Buna-N. Both gasket materials of Neoprene and Buna-N yielded similar performances, including higher rate of contaminant breakthrough compared to Viton. A nonlinear relationship of mass breaking through the gaskets of benzene and PCE with time was discerned from the modeling and field data.