Organophilic clay and its application in clayey liners efficiency improvement against organic contaminants

Efforts to reduce human and environmental risks and threats have led to studies to find new materials such as organoclays in order to apply in soil remediation and water treatment. In several studies, permeability and organic pollutants absorption level of the liners containing organoclays have been investigated. Based on the studies, modifications of bentonite to produce the organoclay have made hydrocarbon absorption capacity to a range of 4 to 10 grams per each gram of the adsorbent. Researchers believe that by using liners consisting of sand, bentonite and organoclay, organic pollutants absorbed by organoclay with a 93% removal capacity. Also, use of 20% bentonite in the liner structure can be very effective to reduce liner permeability up to 10-8 cm/s.