Transient analytical solution for one-dimensional transport of organic contaminants through GM/GCL/SL composite liner

Abstract Analytical solution for transport of organic contaminants through composite liner consisting of a geomembrane (GM), a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL), and a soil liner (SL) with finite thickness is presented. The transient diffusion-advection processes in the whole composite liner and adsorption in GCL and SL can be described by the present method. The method is successfully verified against analytical solution to a coupling transient diffusion-advection problem in double-layer porous media. The rationality of the steady-state transport assumption in GM and GCL and the semi-infinite bottom boundary assumption, which are widely adopted in the existing works, is comprehensively investigated. The overestimated zone, underestimated zone and no difference zone caused by the two assumptions under various conditions are identified. With the increase of elapsed time, the overestimated zone disappears, and the underestimated zone becomes smaller and smaller and finally is overwhelmed by the no difference zone. Moreover, the equivalency between GM/GCL/SL and GM/CCL composite liners is also properly assessed by the present method. GM/GCL/SL composite liner performs better than GM/CCL composite liner under high leachate level condition.