Avoid Failure, Improve Performance, and Reduce Cost

1
Avoid Failure, Improve Performance, and Reduce
Cost

• Surface Modify Your Geosynthetics with
  Fluoro-Seal Reactive Gas Treatments

2

• Fluoro-Seal treatments with elemental reactive
  gas create chemical change in the exposed
  surface molecules of thermoplastics, including
  geosynthetics. Reactive gas molecules bond to and
  chemically modify all exposed surfaces. The
  treatment has been used for many years to
  increase hydrocarbon barrier properties and
  enhance adhesive bonding to coatings, sealants,
  and epoxies.

3
Bond Geosynthetics to Almost Anything

• And
• Increase Permeation Resistance
• As Well As
• Increase Chemical Resistance
• Increase Resistance to Surface Oxidation
• Increase Resistance to Stress Crack Initiation
• Reduce Depletion of Stabilizers

4
Surface Modification Improves Performance and
Long Term Durability of Containment Systems

• Fluoro-Seal Treatments
• Reduce potential for future failure
• Lower life-cycle costs
• Permit new applications of lower cost materials
• Reduce liability by reducing failure frequencies
• Reduce liability by using best-available-technolo
  gy

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Bond Geosynthetics to Almost Anything
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Surface Modified Geosynthetics Permit High
Strength Adhesive Assembly

• For example, polyethylene liners have
  traditionally been joined with heat seaming and
  mechanical attachment. Use of adhesives and
  coatings have been out of the question due to
  poor adhesion.
• But good quality structural adhesion is now
  possible by chemically changing the surface of
  geomembranes through Fluoro-Seal reactive gas
  initiated surface modification. The process
  provides a surface treatment similar to corona,
  plasma, or flame treatments, while going deeper
  into the material with a much more effective and
  long term change of surface chemistry.

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• Reliable structural adhesive assembly through
  Fluoro-Seal surface modification means
• 1) Better installation and repair opportunities
  in field applications,
• 2) More reliable methods for bonding dissimilar
  materials such as concrete, steel, and different
  polymers
• 3) New opportunities for improved efficiencies
  in pre-fabrication assemblies,
• 4) The option to bond over 100 of contact
  surface areas (as opposed to edge or spot
  connections only),
• 5) Secondary supplemental seaming for liability
  protection in leak-prone locations as desired,
  and
• 6) The bonding and application of beneficial
  paints and coatings
• 7) New opportunities for the assembly of
  geosynthetic composites

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Tensile Peel Test of 60 mil (1.5 mm) White
Surfaced Geomembrane Adhesively Bonded after
Fluoro-Seal Surface Modification

• Results Film Tear Bond
• Adhesive connection is stronger than tear
  strength of the geomembrane

• Meets most rigorous requirement even for heat
  seaming

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Film Tear Bond in Tensile Peel Test of 100 mil
(2.5mm) Polyethylene Adhesively Bonded After
Fluoro-Seal Surface Modification

• Adhesive bond strength exceeds tear strength of
  100 mil (2.5mm) thick HDPE a remarkable
  performance for adhesive bonding

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With Surface Modification Many Different
Geosynthetics Can be Reliably Bonded to Similar
and Dissimilar Materials Including Concrete and
Steel as Shown Here with Geonet
11
Film Tear Bonds in Tensile Tests of Surface
Modified Polyethylene Geomembrane Adhesively
Bonded to Steel using Two Different Epoxies
12
Concrete and Other Dissimilar Surface Connections
Can Now be Fully Sealed

• Heretofore geomembranes have been limited to
  batten strips and neoprene gaskets, and expensive
  embedded strips, Fluoro-Seal surface modified
  HDPE geomembrane can now be adhesively joined
  with structural bonding to nearly all surfaces,
  hard or soft, smooth or rough.

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The Batten Strip/Gasket Connections to Concrete
in Surface Impoundments Should Not be Expected to
Remain Leak Free

• Silicone seals of battening do not last
• Batten Strips and Gasketing Can Also Be Expensive

• Battening leaks around bolt holes and bolt
  threads
• Once saturated, neoprene gaskets will leak

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Better Concrete Connections can be Made Using
Adhesives and Sealants with Surface Modified
Geomembranes
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In Concrete Block Pullout Tests with Surface
Modified HDPE the Adhesive Bond is Stronger than
the Concrete
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Fluoro-Seal Surface Modified HDPE Adhesively
Bonded to Concrete was Subjected to Pullout Tests
using Large Flathead Bolts Glued to the Bonded
Membrane. When Cut Around the Bolt Head with a
Circle Saw and Pulled out with a Tensometer, the
Specimens Broke in the Concrete not the Adhesive
Connection
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The Same Tests were Run on Concrete Embedment
Liner (CEL) Set into Molded Bricks

• Pullout strengths for the adhesively bonded
  surface modified HDPE were 2 8 times as great
  as the pullout strengths of concrete embedment
  liners molded into bricks. The fact that adhesive
  bonding covers a larger area, versus being
  limited to the locations of embedded studs, means
  that corresponding pullout resistance per unit
  area is much higher for the adhesive bonded
  SMHDPE than for the CELs.

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Excellent Bonding to Concrete Held up through
Repeated Thermal Cycling Tests as Well.
Expansion/ Contraction Forces are too Low to
Relax Bonding.

• Samples at 90 F

• Samples at 180 F

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Structural Adhesive Assembly of Dissimilar
Materials Applies to Thermoplastics of all Shapes
and Configurations When Surface Modified
20

• Polyethylene Pipe and Fittings for Example Can be
  Joined with the Help of Adhesives and are no
  Longer Restricted to Sometimes Cumbersome and
  Expensive Heat Seaming

21
Adhesion in Wet Conditions is Possible with
Underwater Rated Epoxies
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Penetrations are Historically the Locations Prone
to Leak in Geomembrane Containments

• Surface modifying penetrations and adjacent
  skirting allows supplementing the construction
  with properly bonded sealants to provide
  insurance against leakage

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Penetrations are Often Prefabricated from
Separate Pieces, and Lend Themselves Well to
Surface Modification and Adhesive Assembly

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Both Standard and Specialty Penetrations Can
Benefit from the Use of Adhesive Connection
25
Exposed Hazardous Waste Surface Impoundments
Require Routine Inspections for Damage

• Fluoro-Seal surface modification enables
  do-it-yourself routine repairs, and supplemental
  sealing for liability protection, in addition to
  hydrocarbon diffusion resistant containment.

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Traditional Repair Options for Such Cases Require
Hiring Trained and Specialized Technicians with
the Right Equipment - Expensive Over the
Impoundment Life
27
Hardware Store Available Dual Tube Applicators
for Two Part Epoxies Can be Employed, using Tape
to Hold Epoxy in Place for Cure
28
Here we see Use of a Dual Tube Epoxy Applicator
to Bond Geomembrane to a Concrete Surface, Prior
to Connecting with a Second Panel
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Trowel-able Sealants and Adhesives Can be Spread
to Bond Entire Surfaces of Geomembrane to
Concrete and Other Materials for Longterm
Durability and Leakage Interception
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Sealed to Concrete, the Membrane Lays Flat
without Wrinkles Note Wrinkles in Unbonded
Adjacent Overlapped Panel and Walls

• Sections Bonded to Concrete Offer Built In Leak
  Protection and Wrinkle Free Construction

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Not Only Does Fluoro-Seal Treatment Make
Geosynthetics Bond with Epoxy Adhesives, but the
Surface Modification Makes Longterm Application
of Paints and other Coatings Possible for
Decorative or Performance Related Purposes
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Adhesive Bonding and Coating Applications are
Essentially Unlimited. Any Assembly which
Benefits from Structural Adhesion of
Thermoplastics - Bonding to Themselves or Other
Substrates Should be Considered. Just Let Your
Imagination Soar.
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But Adhesion Applications are not the Only
Improvements Resulting From Fluoro-Seal Surface
Modification.

• Fluoro-Seal Treatment Will also
• Increase Permeation Resistance
• And Can
• Increase Chemical Resistance
• Increase Resistance to Surface Oxidation
• Increase Resistance to Stress Crack Initiation
• Reduce Depletion of Stabilizers

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Geomembranes are in Actuality Quite Permeable to
Hydrocarbons

• Hydrocarbons permeate geomembranes at much higher
  rates than water, salts, and heavy metals
• In rare situations the vapor phase permeation is
  even visible, as in the case of this freshly
  drained geomembrane lined trench, which had
  leaked kerosene to the underlying concrete,
  wetting the saturated wall from the backside.
• Engineers should be concerned about hydrocarbon
  permeation, not about moisture permeation, even
  in dilute situations
• Rowe, K.R. Geosynthetics and the Minimization
  of Contaminant Migration through Barrier Systems
  Beneath Solid Waste, Keynote Lecture,
  Proceedings of 6th International Conference on
  Geosynthetics, Atlanta Georgia, March 1998, pg 27
  - 102.

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VOCs Can Permeate This Geomembrane Cover as Can
Hydrocarbons the Geomembrane Liner Underneath

• Hydrocarbons in dilute solution permeate even
  faster than in concentrate
• This is because lower solubilities in water
  increase the affinity for and solubility in the
  geomembrane
• For example, toluene permeabilities through HDPE
  are three orders of magnitude higher for the
  average of reported aqueous solution
  permeabilities, versus the average for pure
  solvent

36
In Addition to Landfills Many Surface
Impoundments Also Contain Hydrocarbon Wastes
Which Permeate the Liners

• For a typically well-inspected installation,
  permeation is the governing rate for aquifer
  contamination. It has been calculated that for
  different reasonable scenarios of clay adsorption
  and biodegradability, and typical Municipal Solid
  Waste landfill source concentrations, toluene
  (which has a drinking water limit of 24 ppb)
  would range from approximately 5 to 500 ppb in an
  aquifer 3 m underneath a 60 mil HDPE geomembrane
  and 2 ft compacted clay composite liner system
  (Rowe, pg 64). Clearly, the risk of contaminated
  groundwater is present in this typical case ! The
  solution to eliminate such risk is to specify
  very thick clay layers, or to specify better
  hydrocarbon barriers.

Rowe, K.R. Geosynthetics and the Minimization
of Contaminant Migration through Barrier Systems
Beneath Solid Waste, Keynote Lecture,
Proceedings of 6th International Conference on
Geosynthetics, Atlanta Georgia, March 1998, pg 27
- 102.
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Surface Modification Helps Resist Hydrocarbon
Absorption and thus the Damaging Effects of
Solvent Swell

• Peel stress and failure has been known to result
  from solvent absorption and swell
• Hydrocarbon absorption interferes with seam
  quality, and can cause welds to come open

38
Fluoro-Seal Treatment can also Provide a Surface
More Resistant to Acid Oxidation

• For this immersion of unpigmented HDPE sample
  plaques the upper two sets of specimens were
  Fluoro-Seal treated. The lower set was not, and
  shows signs of acid etching.

39
Acid Runoff in this Trench at a South American
Mine, Together with High Altitude Sunlight, has
Oxidized and Degraded with Brittle Fracture this
HDPE Drainage Ditch Liner . The Geomembrane
could have benefited from the extra protection of
Surface Modification.
40
Surface Degradation can Lead to Other Forms of
Premature Failure, Including Stress Cracking
41
Fluoro-Seal Treatments have been Shown to Resist
Stress Crack Initiation

• As tested in constant load stress crack testing,
  ASTM D 5397, Fluoro-Seal surface modification has
  enabled otherwise poor stress crack resistant
  resins to perform well.

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By Significantly Reducing Hydrocarbon Diffusion,
Fluoro-Seal Treatment Can Extend the Time of
Migration and Depletion of Geomembrane
Antioxidants and Thus Extend the Lifetime of
Geomembranes

• Antioxidants are hydrocarbons of varied mobility
  in thermoplastics
• Antioxidant depletion time is a function of
  extraction rate, a permeation/diffusion
  phenomenon
• Their mobility out of a geomembrane (depletion)
  is thus restricted by Fluoro-Seal treatment of
  the surface

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• Fluoro-Seal Reactive Gas Initiated Surface
  Modification of Geosynthetics Improves Key
  Properties Related to

• Improved Assembly, Improved Installation,
  and More Secure Containment
• Best Available Technology has Improved!