Perspectives of Using Lignin as Additive to Improve the Permeability of In-Situ Soils for Barrier Materials in Landfills

Lucio Di Matteo, Lorenzo Bulletti, Eliana Capecchi, Antonio La Viola, Davide Piccinino and Vincenzo Piscopo
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Lucio Di Matteo: Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Pascoli s.n.c., 06123 Perugia, Italy
Lorenzo Bulletti: Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Pascoli s.n.c., 06123 Perugia, Italy
Eliana Capecchi: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Largo Università, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Antonio La Viola: Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Pascoli s.n.c., 06123 Perugia, Italy
Davide Piccinino: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Largo Università, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Vincenzo Piscopo: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Largo Università, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Very often, in-situ soil does not meet the requirements for landfill barriers; therefore, it is necessary to purchase the material from quarries. An increasing number of by-products have been proposed as alternative landfill barrier materials. The present study investigated the performance of two soils of Central Italy (alluvial and volcanic soils) with an organosolv lignin (sulfur-free lignin (SFL)), a widespread by-product in the world. Laboratory investigations indicated that the volcanic soil mixed with 10% in weight of lignin did not reach the permeability value required for landfill bottom liners, also showing high compressibility. On the contrary, the addition of 20% to 30% lignin to the alluvial soil reached the permeability value recommended for the top-sealing layer of landfills: scanning electron microscope analysis indicated that the improvement was due mainly to the physical binding. Large-scale investigations should be carried out to evaluate the long-term performance of the mixtures. The increasing production of organosolv lignin worldwide gives this by-product the opportunity to be used as an additive for the realization of the top-sealing layer. The approach can save the consumption of raw materials (clayey soils from quarries), giving lignin a potential new field of application and recovering in-situ soils.

Keywords: landfill barrier; permeability; by-product; lignin; fine-grained soils (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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