Transport of phenolic compounds through a compacted organoclay liner

The transport of phenolic compounds through a compacted liner improved with organically modified bentonite (organoclay BB-40) was studied. Organoclay BB-40 is one of the manufactured products of Biomin International, Inc. and is modified with 40 lb of dicetyldimethylammonium per 100 lb of clay. The adsorption of phenolic compounds onto organoclay BB-40 is found to be significant, which could be attributed to the formation of hydrophobic bonding. The hydraulic conductivities of organoclay BB-40 are 1.98 × 10−7, 2.28 × 10−7 and 5.49 × 10−7 cm/sec for the phenol cell, 2-chlorophenol cell and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol cell, respectively. The experimental results of adsorption tests and hydraulic conductivity tests were input into the computer program “Pollute v9” to simulate the transport of phenolic compounds through a compacted organoclay liner material. The simulation result was then compared with phenol transport through the conventional soil liner (90% silty sand and 10% natural clay mineral). It indicates that the retardation of the transport of phenolic compounds using organoclay as a liner material is more significant than using the conventional soil liner, particularly for higher hydrophobic organics.