Model calculations of water dynamics in lysimeters filled with granular industrial wastes

authored by: Dirk Hermsmeyer, Jan Ilsemann, Jörg Bachmann, Rienk R. Van Der Ploeg, Robert Horton
Abstract: A three-year long lysimeter experiment with a fine-grained aluminum (Al) recycling by-product and a mixture of this by-product and a coal combustion waste was conducted. The wastes were proposed as possible soil substitutes in an engineered surface barrier covering a potash mining residue mount. To evaluate the suitability of the wastes as surface barrier material, their hydrological behavior under field conditions must be known. Lysimeter experiments provide one means to study the hydrological behavior of soils or soil-like materials. However, it is difficult to estimate the long-term hydrological behavior from short-term lysimeter studies. The present study was conducted therefore to derive from short-term lysimeter observations the long-term hydrological behavior of the two waste materials. The lysimeter data were used to calibrate the one-dimensional soil water flow model HYDRUS-1D. With the calibrated model, hydrological simulations for the site of the residue mount were carried out for a period of 31 yr. Calculated long-term annual seepage from the lysimeters was 237 mm for the pure Al waste and 186 mm for the mixture, or 39% and 24% of the average annual precipitation (764 mm). The average discharge of the bare mount is 482 mm or 63%. We conclude that a soil cover could considerably reduce the discharge and that the mixture is better suited as surface barrier than the pure Al waste.
Organisation(s): Institute of Soil Science
Section Soil Physics
External Organisation(s): Iowa State University
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
Volume: 165
Pages: 339-346
No. of pages: 8
ISSN: 1436-8730
Publication date: 01.06.2002
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Soil Science, Plant Science
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1002/1522-2624(200206)165:3<339::AID-JPLN339>3.0.CO;2-V (Access: Unknown)