Page 337 - gas transport in porous media

Chapter 20: Radon Transport
337
The difference in the results for present conditions and future conditions is due pri-
marily to potentially degraded performance of the geomembrane as a diffusion barrier
in the future. Uncertainty exists with regard to the impact of numerous degradation
processes for high-density polyethylene geomembranes and estimates suggest a max-
imum lifetime of several hundred years (Koerner et al., 1991; Hsuan and Koerner,
1998). It should be noted that in the model the geomembrane layer functions as a
significant barrier to gaseous diffusion only at relatively low values of defect density.

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