Study on the adsorption of Cr(VI) onto landfill liners containing granular activated carbon or bentonite activated by acid

The adsorption capacity of landfill liners containing granular activated carbon (GAC), or bentonite activated by acid, for Cr(VI) was investigated by batch testing. The results show that both GAC and activated bentonite could be used as sorptive amendments for trapping Cr(VI) in landfill liners. The Cr(VI) sorption to GAC and activated bentonite is much greater than Cr(VI) sorption to natural clay. The adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) onto all the soils increases with increasing temperature; adsorption capacity is also significantly influenced by soil-solid concentration. As the soil-solid concentration increases the adsorption capacity first decreases logarithmically, but then stabilizes when the soil-solid concentration exceeds a critical value (e.g. 400 g/L). Permeability tests were conducted in the laboratory. The results indicate that the hydraulic conductivity of landfill liners containing GAC or activated bentonite can meet the engineering requirement of 1 nm/s. One-dimensional transport simulations for Cr(VI) were performed to evaluate the effect of GAC and activated bentonite on landfill liners. The results of the simulations indicate that landfill liners containing GAC, or activated bentonite, significantly retard the transport of Cr(VI) relative to a conventional clay liner.