New leak location technology introduced to Asia
Abigail L. Beck
In the proceedings of: GeoMontréal 2013: 66th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 11th joint with IAH-CNCSession: Geosynthetics - Landfills and Mining Operations
ABSTRACT: TheglobalinterestinElectricalLinerIntegritySurvey(ELIS)isgrowingrapidly.China,forexample,isnotrenownedforitsexcellentenvironmentalpolicies,butthecountryisbeginningtoenforcenewlegislationrequiringleakdetectionfornewlandfillexpansions.TwodifferentleaklocationfirmswerecontractedfortheperformanceofELISonalandfillexpansioninAsia.Onefirmlocatesleaksinreal-time,whilethesecondfirmutilizesstate-of-the-artthree-dimensionalvoltagedatamapping.TheASTMrequirementfordatarecordingforsoil-covereddipolesurveysissomewhatcontroversial.Thefactisthatdatarecordingisnotnecessaryforlocatingleaks.However,three-dimensionaldatamappingcanimprovethechancesoflocatingallleakswithgoodcontact,thusimprovingthequalityofthesurvey.Additionally,three-dimensionaldatamappingprovidesmeaningfulqualitycontroldocumentationthatthemethodcurrentlylacks.Two-dimensionalmapping,whichiscommonlyusedintandemwithdatarecording,isdifficulttointerpretanddoesnotprovidemeaningfulqualitycontrol.Localpoliticsprovedtobeamoreformidablechallengethanthetechnicalaspectsofthesurvey,butthisprojectaffordedtheopportunityofweighingtheprosandconsofeachsurveymethodology.Asaresultofthisproject,thecapabilitiesoftheadvancedsurveymethodswereintroducedtoamajorlandfilloperatorinAsia,whereELISinterestisgrowing,andarelikelytobeimplementedforfuturelandfillexpansionprojects.RÉSUMÉL™intérêtgénéralenvalidationélectriquedel™intégritéd™unegéomembranecroîtrapidement.LaChine,parexample,n™estpasreconnuepoursespolitiquesenvironnementalesstrictes,maisrenforceactuellementlesloispourexigerdeladétectiondefuitesdanslesextensionsdeLET(lieuxd™enfouissementtechniques).DeuxcompagniesdifférentesuvrantdanslemilieudeladétectiondefuitesontétécontactéespouruneprospectiongéoélectriquesuruneextensiondeLETenAsie.Unecompagniedécouvrelesfuitesentempsréel,alorsquelasecondeutiliseunsystèmeàlafinepointedelatechnologie:unecartographieentroisdimensionsdesdifférencesdepotentielenregistrées.LesexigencesdesnormesASTMparrapportàl™acquisitiondedonnéesaudipôlesurunegéomembranerecouverteestunpeucontroversée.Danslesfaits,l™acquisitiondedonnéesn™estpasnécessairepourdétecterdesfuites.Parcontre,unecartographie3Ddespotentielsélectriquespeutaugmenterleschancesdetrouvertouteslesfuitesavecunboncontactélectrique,etainsiaugmenterlaqualitédelaprospection.Deplus,lescartographies3Dserventdecontrôle-qualitédontlaméthodedudipôlemanqueactuellement.Desgraphiquesendeuxdimensions,quisontgénéralementlerésultatd™acquisitiondedonnéespardipôle,sontdifficilementinterprétablesetnefournissentaucuneinformationdecontrôle-qualité.Lespolitiquesinternessontsouventunplusgrosdéfiqueladifficultétechniqueensoit,maisceprojetapupermettrel™opportunitédevaliderlesavantagesetinconvénientsdechaqueméthodedeprospection.Autermedeceprojet,lescapacitésdelatechnologieavancéededipôleontétéintroduiteschezunexploitantmajeurdeLETenAsieetrisquentd™êtreréutiliséesdanslesprochainsprojetsd™agrandissementdelieuxd™enfouissementstechniques.1INTRODUCTIONAnElectricalLinerIntegritySurvey(ELIS)isthestate-of-the-artmethodoflocatingleaksininstalledgeomembranes,bothbeforeandaftercovermaterialplacement.Duetotherelativelylowcostofsurveyperformanceandtheimmensebenefititprovides,theapplicationofthemethodisgrowingrapidlythroughouttheworld.ThisrapidgrowthinELISdemandandthecomplexityofthemethodsutilizedhavealsomeantthatthetechnologyisnotalwaysappliedappropriately.Mostmajordamagetogeomembranesoccursduringcoversoilplacement,asopposedtodamageincurredduringgeomembraneinstallation;soELISisusuallyappliedtolandfillsaftertheplacementofthecovermaterial.ASTMD7007,alsoknownasthedipolemethod,isthestandardmethodusedforgeomembranescoveredwithsoilorwatermaterial.Thispaperintroducesthetechnologybehindthedipolemethodanddiscussestherequirementsforsurveyapplication,theminimumsurveysensitivityandthemethodlimitations.Thevariousmethodsofdataanalysis,whichdirectlyaffecttheoveralleffectivenessofasurvey,areexploredindepthandcompared.AnELISprojectlocatedinAsiaaffordedtheopportunityofshowcasingtheaspectsofthetechnologythatneedinternationalsupportandeducation.Inaddition,thevariousmethodologiesofapplyingELIStechnologiescouldbecomparedduetothesurveybeingperformedbytwodifferentELIScompanies.
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Abigail L. Beck (2013) New leak location technology introduced to Asia in GEO2013. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.
@article{GeoMon2013Paper536,author = Abigail L. Beck,title = New leak location technology introduced to Asia,year = 2013}