Water vapor diffusion: A control factor in the selection of environmentally friendly waste sites in Mosul city, Iraq
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Abstract
Water vapour diffusion through porous media is an important part of water flux in the unsaturated zone, where fluid transfer is principally due to vapour diffusion. In this research, the suitability of Limestone, Gypsum stones and unsaturated plastic and non- plastic soils of Mosul city Iraq, for usage as barriers surrounding bunkers of chemicals and radioactive wastes were assessed in order to protect the environment. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the water vapour transfer for the selected earth materials. Wetting/drying and freezing/thawing cycles were adopted to evaluate the water transfer properties of weathered stones. Saturated salt solutions in a special diffusion experiment were used to measure both the coefficient of permeability, and diffusivity of water vapour in the tested samples. The results were obtained using Darcy’s and Fick’s laws of water vapour transfer. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), optical Microscopic (OM) and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP) tests were further performed to examine the mineralogical and microstructural characteristics of the materials. The results indicate a reduction of diffusion coefficient with an increase in relative humidity; water vapour diffusion decreases with the decrement in suction pressure, also there is a close relationship between total porosity and the diffusion coefficient of the tested samples. The results distinguished the variance in diffusion behaviour of plastic and non-plastic soils based on the difference in their microstructure fabrics. Further, the amount of hydraulic conductivity and diffusion coefficient was higher in limestone than in gypsum stone due to bigger pore size distribution of the limestone. It was equally confirmed that weathering factors have noticeable effects on the permeability and diffusion behaviour of the stones. In essence, the plasticity of soil, the type and degree of weathering of rocks are important factors to be considered in the choice of location for chemical and/or radioactive wastes sites.
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