US 4,084,382 AGrant
Method and Composition for Preventing Water Contaminated With Industrial Waste Seeping Through Soil Containing Said Water
Issue Date:1978-04-18
•6 Claims
Abstract
There is disclosed a method for containing water having a high concentration of water-soluble industrial waste which, when in contact with bentonite, disintegrates the bentonite thereby allowing seepage of water through soil containing said water which comprises intimately admixing with said soil a soil sealant composition consisting essentially of bentonite, a water-soluble dispersing agent, and a water-soluble polymer selected from the group consisting of polyacrylic acid, water-soluble salts of polyacrylic acid, hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, copolymers of the foregoing, and a copolymer of acrylic acid and maleic anhydride, the amount of water-soluble polymer being from 0.1 to 3.0%, by weight, and the amount of water-soluble dispersent being from 0.1 to 3.0%, by weight, the weight ratio of water-soluble dispersent to water-soluble polymer being from 6.1-36, intimately admixing an effective amount of said soil sealant composition with soil, forming a water-containing enclosure from said mixture of soil sealant composition and soil, and contacting said enclosure with water containing substantially no industrial waste compounds thereby hydrating the bentonite.
Metadata
Assignee
- American Colloid Company
Inventor
- Arthur G. Clem
Application Information
Application Number:US 7537123
Filing Date:1976-12-23
Priority Date:1973-02-27
Art Unit:141
Classifications
IPC:
E02D 312
Field of Search:
6126036 R42.12
Patent Drawings
This patent does not have any drawings.
Description
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
As noted above, the invention herein relates to a composition containing bentonite, a water-soluble dispersent, and a water-soluble polymer, said composition being useful in preventing leaking of water holding areas for contaminated water which are formed of soil.
It should be noted that when the specification and claims refer to "soil" this term includes sand, clay, sandy soil, topsoil, etc. It is of no moment what type of soil is utilized in the present invention since the soil sealant composition disclosed herein will swell and fill the voids contained in the most porous of soils, e.g. silica sand of large particle size.
The bentonite utilized in the present invention is one which will hydrate in the presence of water, i.e., will swell in the presence of water. A preferred bentonite is sodium bentonite which is basically a hydratable montmorillonite clay which has sodium as its predominate exchangeable ion. However, the bentonite utilized in the present invention may also contain other cations such as magnesium and iron. The particular cation contained in the bentonite is not important, what is important is the replaceable or exchangeable cation. As noted above, the sodium bentonite will swell in water and is therefore the type of bentonite which is most useful in the present invention.
In order to prevent the bentonite from preventing leakage of water contaminated with water-soluble industrial salts such as sodium chloride or calcium chloride it it absolutely necessary that the soil sealant composition include a certain type of water-soluble dispersent and a water-soluble polymer.
The water-soluble dispersent can be a water-soluble salt of phosphoric acid (a phosphate) such as hypophosphate, orthophosphate, metaphosphate, and pyrophosphate. The particular cation forming the salt is not important providing that the resulting salt is water-soluble. For example, the cation can be almost any metal such as an alkaline metal or an alkaline earth metal. Exemplary of the alkaline metal salts are sodium orthophosphate, trisodium orthophosphate, sodium metaphosphate, and sodium pyrophosphate. Other alkaline metals which are useful in producing phosphate salts which may be utilized in the present invention are potassium orthophosphate, potassium hydrophosphate, potassium pyrophosphate, and lithium phosphate. As examples of alkali earth metals there may be mentioned monocalcium phosphate.
As noted above, the water-soluble phosphoric acid salts are excellent dispersents; however, other water-soluble dispersents can also be used.
For example, there may be mentioned water-soluble sulfates having a hydrophobic group attached to the sulfate group, such compounds having the formula ROSO.sub.3 X, where R is any hydrocarbon group having from about 8 to 32 carbon atoms but preferably from 8 to 22 carbon atoms and X is an alkali metal or ammonium. It is preferred if R in the above formula is higher aliphatic such as higher alkyl. A preferred compound in which R is higher aliphatic is sodium lauryl sulfate. It should be noted that sodium lauryl sulfate actually is a mixture of fatty alcohols derived from coconut oil, the fatty alcohols ranging from 8 carbon atoms to 18 carbon atoms, with lauryl alcohol being the most abundant component (about 49%). Other aliphatic sulfates useful in the present invention are sodium cetyl sulfate, sodium oleyl sulfate and sodium stearyl sulfate. Additionally, those sulfates derived from fish oils are useful in the present invention.
Exemplary of other water-soluble dispersents which are useful herein are the water-soluble salts of leonardite. Leonardite is a naturally occurring mineral (for example, found in North Dakota) and is sometimes considered a naturally oxidized lignite and contains humic acid. A water-soluble salt of leonardite may be made by reacting the leonardite with an alkali compount, e.g. sodium hydroxide, to form the corresponding salt, e.g. the sodium salt of sodium hydroxide is used. Other useful water-soluble salts of leonardite are the alkali metals such as sodium potassium, and lithium as well as the ammonia salts of leonardite. It should be emphasized however that the foregoing salts are merely exemplary and that any water-soluble salts of leonardite is useful in the present invention.
The preferred water-soluble polymer of the present invention if polyacrylic acid. As is known in the art, the salts of polyacrylic acid can be polymerized directly from the salts of acrylic acid. If desired, the salt of polyacrylic acid can be acidified to give polyacrylic acid. In this invention, polyacrylic acid can be utilized per se or, preferably, the water-soluble salts thereof.
Other water-soluble polymers which may be utilized in the present invention are hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl acetate, and polyvinyl alcohol. Additionally, copolymers of the foregoing can also be utilized and, preferably copolymers of polyacrylic acid and polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl acetate, or polyvinyl alcohol. Moreover, another preferred copolymer is the copolymer of acrylic acid and maleic anhydride.
It is preferred if the above polymers have a molecular weight of at least about 100,000 and preferably 150,000 or more. The preferred molecular weight is between 500,000 and 2,000,000 or more.
The amount of water-soluble polymer utilized in the soil sealant composition of the present invention may range from 0.1% to 3.0%, be weight with the preferred range being from, say, 0.5% to 2 or 3%, by weight. The weight ratio of water-soluble dispersent to water-soluble polymer is preferably from 6:1-36.
The soil sealant composition is made very easily by merely dry mixing the bentonite, the water-soluble polymer, and the water-soluble dispersent to form a dry, granular or powder like composition. This dry composition can be easily introduced into the soil by mixing therewith.
In order to show the unexpected results of the compositions and method of this invention a silica sand was utilized having 30% voids and to the silica sand was added 4.4 pounds of untreated bentonite per square foot of sand having a two-inch depth. An identical sand sample was taken and to this sand was added 4.4 pounds of the soil sealant composition of this invention per square foot of sand having a two-inch depth. The soil sealant composition has the following composition: 99%, by weight, of sodium bentonite, 0.5%, by weight, of sodium polyacrylate, and 0.5%, by weight, of sodium acid pyrophosphate.
Both samples of sand were prehydrated with 12 inches of tap water for 24 hours. Thereafter, a 10% sodium chloride aqueous solution was introduced into each and permeability measurements were made. The results were as follows:
Premeabilities are measured as centimeters per second per foot of head. It is noted that after 168 hours the treated material permitted only 10.sup.-6 centimeters per second whereas the untreated permitted 10.sup.-5 centimeters per second leakage, which indicates the treated material was 10 times superior.
In place of the sodium polyacrylate utilized in the above example, there could also be utilized any of the polymers of acrylic acid with vinyl acetate, vinyl alcohol, or maleic anhydride. Additionally, hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile can be utilized to very good effect.
The particular amount of soil sealant composition added to the soil is not critical and good results have been attained utilized anywhere from 1 to 2 pounds per cubic foot of soil to upwards as high as 10 to 20 and even 40 or 60 pounds per cubic foot of soil, depending upon the porosity of the soil.
In the foregoing exemplary embodiment certain compounds and polymers were utilized and certain percentages; however, other polymers, dispersents and soil can be utilized to equally good effect and in varying amounts, it being understood that the exemplary embodiment is for illustration purposes only and is not to be considered limiting.
Claims
I claim:
1. A method for producing a composition useful in forming an enclosure for containing water contaminated with water-soluble industrial waste salts which comprises forming an intimate admixture of dry soil and a sealing effective amount of soil sealant composition consisting essentially of an intimate dry admixture of (a) unhydrated bentonite; (b) a water-soluble dispersing agent selected from the group consisting of a water-soluble salt of phosphoric acid, a water-soluble sulfate of the formula ROSO.sub.3 X where R is hydrocarbon of from 8 to 32 carbon atoms, and X is a member selected from the group consisting of an alkaline metal or ammonium, and a water-soluble salt of leonardite; and, (c) a water-soluble polymer selected from the group consisting of polyacrylic acid, water-soluble salts of polyarcylic acid, hydrolyzed poly-acrylonitrile, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl alcohol, copolymers of the foregoing, and a copolymer of acrylic acid and maleic anhydride, the amount of water-soluble polymer in said soil sealant composition being from 0.1% to 3.0%, by weight, the weight ratio of water-soluble dispersent to water-soluble polymer being from 6:1-36; and contacting the resulting dry mixture of soil and soil sealant composition with water containing substantially no water-soluble industrial waste salts thereby hydrating the bentonite.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the water-soluble polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyacrylic acid and water-soluble salts of polyacrylic acid.
3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the water-soluble dispersing agent is a water-soluble salt of pyrophosphoric acid.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein k is hydrocarbon of from 8 to 22 carbon atoms and X is sodium.
5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the water-soluble dispersing agent is sodium lauryl sulfate.
6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the water-soluble dispersing agent is a water-soluble salt of leonardite.
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| US2751367 | 1956-06-01 | Yost | |
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