J

The permeability of soils with organic fluids a P

MUNIRAM
BUDHU
Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Arizona, Tucson, A Z 85721, U.S.A.
AND
R.F. GIESE, JR., GEORGECAMPBELL,
AND LYNNBAUMGRASS
Department of Geology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 4240 Ridge Lea Road,
Amherst, N Y 14226, U.S.A.
Received April 25, 1990
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Accepted September 12, 1990

Permeability measurements, using a consolidometer, were made for kaolinite, montmorillonite, and a clay-rich soil
(the Lockport clay) with a variety of organic liquids and water as permeants. These data, along with selected values
from the literature, were used to evaluate several theories that have been proposed as explanations for the general obser-
vation that permeabilities of clay soils with organic fluids as the permeants are higher than with water as the permeant.
Of the several obvious differences in physical properties between water and organic liquids (e.g., dielectric constant,
viscosity, dipole moment, specific gravity, and surface tension), only the dielectric constant provided a consistent cor-
relation with the permeabilities used in this study. The permeabilities for the organic chemicals used in this study can
be predicted using the measured permeability for the soil with water as the permeant and the dielectric constant of
the organic by way of an exponential equation. For mixtures of acetone-water and methanol-water, the permeabilities
did not vary linearly with the composition; the permeabilities remained close to values for pure water until approx-
imately 70% (by volume) of the fluid was organic.
Key words: permeability, organics, dielectric constant, soils.

Des mesures de permCabilitC dans IYoedomt3treont CtC obtenues sur de la kaolinite, de la montmorillonite, et sur
un sol riche en argile (l'argile de Lockport) avec, comme fluide percolant, une variCtC de liquides organiques et de
l'eau. Ces donnees ont CtC utiliskes avec des valeurs sClectionnCes dans la littkrature pour Cvaluer plusieurs theories
For personal use only.

qui ont CtC proposCes afin d'expliquer l'observation gCnCrale que les permCabilitCs des sols argileux mesurCes avec per-
colation de fluides organiques sont plus ClevCes qu'avec l'eau. Parmi les diffkrences les plus Cvidentes entre les pro-
priCtCs physiques de l'eau et des liquides organiques (i.e., la constante diklectrique, la viscositC, le moment bipolaire,
la gravitC spCcifique, et la tension superficielle), seule la constante diklectrique fournit une correlation qui est consistante
avec les permCabilitCs utiliskes dans cette etude. Les permCabilitCs des produits chimiques organiques utilisCs dans cette
etude peuvent &treprCdites en partant de la permCabilitC du sol mesurCe avec de l'eau comme fluide percolant, qui
est mise en relation dans une Cquation exponentielle avec la constante diklectrique du liquide organique. Pour les melanges
acCtone-eau et methanol-eau, les permCabilitCs ne variaient pas 1inCairement avec la composition; les permCabilitCs
demeurent prt3s des valeurs obtenues avec I'eau pure jusqu'a ce qu'environ 70% (en volume) du fluide soit organique.
Mots cl&s: permCabilitC, produits organiques, constante ditlectrique, sols.
[Traduit par la ridaction]

Can. Geotech. J. 28, 140-147 (1991)

Introduction rich soils with aqueous fluids as permeants, the level of

Recently, there has been growing interest in understanding
the mechanics of hydraulic conductivity of clay-rich soils
as related to the migration of leachate from landfills and
toxic-waste sites. In general, soils with high clay contents,
and consequently low permeabilities, are frequently used as
natural and artificial barriers in such sites to limit the release
of leachate into the environment.
In conventional civil engineering practice, where water is
the permeant, several factors have been identified that
strongly affect the permeability of clay-rich soils: grain size,
the fabric or arrangement of particles, degree of saturation,
void ratio, electrolyte concentration, composition and nature
of adsorbed cations, and external pressure (Mitchell 1976).
For organic fluids, the relation between the physical and
chemical properties of the organic liquid and the permeabil-
ity are much less clear, partly because the nature of the dif-
ferent organic chemicals in toxic landfills is so variable and
partly because cooperative effects among different chemicals
render measurements on pure organic liquids of little utility
in predicting permeabilities of mixtures. In the case of clay-
Printed in Canada / Imprim6 au Canada
dissolved material is usually low and does not materially
change the properties of the fluid from that of pure water.
In the case of clay-rich soils where organic fluids are the
permeants, the properties of the pore fluids, the chemical
and mineralogical composition of the soil, and the nature
of the adsorption of the permeant by the soil particles are
potentially important factors.
It is not possible at present to predict the permeability of
soils with organic fluids as the permeants based on a mea-
surement of the permeability with water as permeant, nor
is much known about the permeability of soils with mixtures
of organic fluids with water as permeants. Such a capability
is highly desirable given the complexities of the fluids present
in many toxic dump sites.
Several investigators (Mesri and Olson 1971; Gilligan and
Clemence 1984; Anderson et al. 1985; Uppot and Stephenson
1989) have reported that when clay-rich soils are saturated
with an organic fluid, the permeability with the organic fluid
as permeant is greater, in general, than if the soil were
saturated with water and water was the permeant. A number
 BUDHU ET AL. j
*
t 4 k,

TABLE1. Physical properties of some organic fluids and pure water. Values given in parentheses hare been
normalized with respect to pure water. The specific gravities have not been normalized because the value for
water is not significantly different from 1.0

11 E Dipole moment, Y
Organic (CP) P (at 20°C)" gaseous phase (debyes) (dyn/cm)b
Acetic acid 28.8 (0.396)
(lO°C, vapor)
Acetone 23.7 (0.326)
(20°C,
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airhapor)
Aniline 42.9 (0.590)
(20°C, vapor)
Benzene 22.85 (0.315)
(20°C, air)
Carbon tetrachloride 26.95 (0.370)
(20°C, vapor)
Dimethylsulfoxide 42.85 (0.589)
Dioxane 33.74 (0.464)
Ethanol 22.75 (0.313)
(20°C, vapor)
Ethylene glycol 47.7 (0.656)
Formamide 58.2.10.800)
(20°C, vapor)
Heptane 18.43 (0.253)
Methanol 22.61 (0.31 1)
(20°C, air)
Methyl ethyl ketone
(2-butanone) 24.6 (0.338)
For personal use only.

*-
p-Xylene 28.37 (0.390)
(20°C, vapor)
Water 72.75 (1 .OO)
NOTE: q , viscosity; p , specific gravity; t , dielectric constant; y, surface tension.
"The value for heptane was interpolated from values for hexane and octane.
b ~ h e r the
e data exist, the conditions under which the measurement was made is given (e.g., temperature and the nature
of the gaseous phase). The value for heptane was interpolated from values for hexane and octane. 1 dyn = 10 pN.

of theories have been proposed to explain this behavior.
Two, however, seem t o have attracted the most attention.
Mesri and Olson (1971) measured a large increase in perme-
ability when fluids other than water were used in consolida-
tion tests. They suggested that the differences in polarity
between water and organic permeants are responsible. The
reasoning was that the water molecule, with a large dipole
moment, strongly hydrogen bonds to the surface of the
silicate minerals in a soil. In clay-rich soils, which have small
pores and often contain high surface area minerals (e.g.,
montmorillonite, bentonite), the greater part of the pore
fluid exists in an adsorbed film held in place by inter-
molecular attractions of various kinds. The existence of an
adsorbed layer of water on the surfaces of the soil particles
effectively reduces the size of the pore channels, decreasing
the ability of the fluid t o move through the soil. Fluids that
have smaller polarities than water, as is the case for many
organic liquids, are less strongly bonded to the soil minerals,
and the fluid flows more easily through the pore network.
The second suggestion, and perhaps the more widely
accepted at present, is that the interaction of organic fluids
with the soil minerals causes the soil to change its fabric in
a manner that provides a n easier passage for the pore fluid.
Gilligan (1983) and Gilligan and Clemence (1984) suggested
that the addition of organic liquids to clay-rich soils causes
the formation of tactoids in these soils. Tactoids are variously
defined in the literature; in the present context, they refer
t o spindle-shaped agglomerations of clay minerals that are
dispersed in the soil matrix (van Olphen 1963). The forma-
tion of tactoids in a soil creates a more granular fabric with
'
enlarged pore spaces and an easier flow passage.
According to Gilligan and Clemence (1984) the formation
of tactoids is the result of the complex interactions between
individual clay particles and the fluid phase that surrounds
them when the pore volume is saturated. They attempted
to calculate the forces involved and determined that, of the
clay minerals examined by them, illite would have the smallest
polarizing effect on organic molecules, with kaolinite and
montmorillonite having nearly identical effects. The polariz-
ing ability, according to Gilligan and Clemence, controls the
distances between particles in a face-to-face fabric, which
is essential for tactoid formation. Thus, one would conclude
that the response of montmorillonite and illite t o different
organic fluids would be dramatically different.
Other ideas have been proposed to explain the differing
permeabilities of soils with organic fluids as permeants com-
pared with water. Kinsky et al. (1971) presented results from
falling-head and consolidation tests t o support their conten-
tion that the dielectric constant of the pore fluid is the major
cause of the permeability changes. They argued that a
decrease in dielectric constant reduces the thickness of the
double layer at the surfaces of the soil minerals and thus
effectively diminishes the dimensions of the pore system in
the soil; the lower the dielectric constant, the greater the per-
 142 CAN. GEOTECH. J.
meability. van Olphen (1963) suggested that a reduction in
the dielectric constant will induce flocculation (a change in
fabric), thereby providing more pore space for fluid flow.
Green et al. (1981) also concluded from their work on the
permeabilities of various clays with organic fluids that the
differences in dielectric constants of the fluids are respon-
sible for the changes in permeabilities they observed. How-
ever, their results showed that the greater the dielectric con-
stant the greater the permeability, a reverse of the findings
of Kinsky et al. (1971).
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The objectives of the present work were (i) to measure
the permeability for a group of organic fluids with a wide
variation in physical and chemical properties under as nearly
identical conditions as possible, (ii) to determine the varia-
tion in permeability for binary mixtures of organic fluids
and water, and (iii) using these measurements and values
selected from the literature, to evaluate the theories that have
been proposed to explain the observed differences in per-
meability for water compared with organic chemicals.
Fluid flow
The velocity, v, of water flowing through soils is described
by Darcy's Law, which can be expressed as
[I] v = ki
where k is the coefficient of permeability (or hydraulic con-
ductivity or permeability) and i is the hydraulic gradient.
Kozeny (1927) showed that the coefficient of permeabil-
For personal use only.
ity, k, of a saturated soil mass can be expressed as
where c is the shape factor of the soil particles, d is the effec-
tive particle size, e is the void ratio, y is the unit weight of
the fluid, and is the viscosity of the fluid. Equation [2]
expresses the main factors controlling the permeability of
soils. This equation also provides a useful means to relate
the coefficients of permeability of a soil with water as the
permeant to those of other fluids in the absence of any
chemical modification of the soil and the absence of any
chemical interaction between the fluid and the soil minerals.
Thus, for a given soil at a specific temperature and void
ratio
where the subscripts p and w refer to the pore fluid and to
water, respectively. This relation shows that the ratio of the
coefficient of permeability of organic to water should be
inversely related to the respective viscosities. Using, for
example, the properties of acetic acid and water as depicted
in Table 1, we obtain from [3] the theoretical permeability
ratio of acetic acid to water as 0.73. Thus, if viscosity is the
controlling factor, then the permeability of a soil at a given
temperature and void ratio with acetic acid as the permeant
will be lower than that of a similar soil with water as the
permeant. In the case of a landfill, the fluid might be a mix-
ture of water and organics, in which case y, and 7, are the
unit weight and viscosity of the mixture, respectively.
Permeability tests
There are basically three types of devices that are used
to determine the permeability of clay-rich or fine-grained
VOL. 28, 1991
i
I
soils. These are the triaxial flexible wall permeameter
(TFWP) (Carpenter and Stephenson 1985), the "rigid wall"
compaction mold (RWCM) (Brown and Anderson 1983),
and the consolidation apparatus (CA) (see Olson and Daniel
1979 for descriptions and reviews of these devices). The first
two devices are more popular than the third and utilize the
falling-head method in determining the coefficient of per-
meability of clay-rich soils. The test samples are usually pre-
pared from reconstituted soils and are consolidated in the
TFWP or compacted in the RWCM. Field cores can also
be placed in these devices. The coefficient of permeability
is obtained by allowing the fluid to pass through the soil
from a vertical tube with and without external pressure.
The third major test, the consolidation test, is an indirect
permeability test in which a sample of soil (usually 76 mm
in diameter by 19 mm height) is confined in a ring and com-
pressed vertically at various stress levels. The fluid that is
expelled from the sample during this compression is allowed
to drain from the cell in a vertical direction. The coefficient
of permeability is calculated from the expression
where c, is the coefficient of qnsolidation, a, is the coef-
ficient of compressibility, y, is the unit weight of the fluid,
and e is the void ratio.
A particular problem with these tests, especially tests
utilizing field cores, is that the fabric of the soil sample is
greatly disturbed during the sample collection in the field
or during remolding in the laboratory, and therefore, the
test results may bear little relation to the field situation.
Each of the above devices has its own set of limitations,
and there is no agreement on which is the best one. Uppot
and Stephenson (1989), for example, suggested that the
TFWP is the most suitable apparatus mainly because it
prevents flow along the sides of the sample (also a problem
with the RWCM).
A major difference between these falling-head tests and
the consolidation test is that the stress states in the samples
are different. In the falling-head permeameter, the flow of
the fluid is driven by gravity with or without an additional
external pressure, whereas in the consolidation test, flow
occurs as the result of the fluid being squeezed out of the
pores of the soil. The driving force here is the vertical stress
resulting from loading of the sample. Although no shear
stress is imposed on the samples in the falling-head
permeameter, there is a shear stress, 71, in the soil sample
during a consolidation test, described by
where a, is the vertical stress and KO is the lateral earth
pressure coefficient. In an aqueous environment, each par-
ticle has associated with it an assemblage of ions and water
molecules that together constitute the electrical double layer.
The fluid in the double layer can only be dislodged by the
application of a shearing stress of a magnitude that must
equal the surface tension of the fluid. Thus when r1becomes
equal to the surface tension of the fluid, the bound fluid
is dislodged. In the falling-head permeameter, a threshold
gradient, io, related to the surface tension of the fluid must
be exceeded before fluid flow occurs. It appears, therefore,
that the smaller surface tension for a given fluid, the greater
 BUDHU ET AL. \

, i

TABLE2. A comparison of values of permeability ratios taken from the literaturesand

measured values from this study 1

Dielectric
Organic fluid ratio ( k p / k w ) f (kp/kWlr Reference

Montmorillonite-smectite
Xylene Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Dioxane Kinsley et al. 1971
Benzene Mesri and Olson 1971
Carbon tetrachloride Mesri and Olson 1971
Mesri and Olson 1971
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Ethanol
Acetic acid Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Aniline Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Acetone This study
Ethanol Kinsley et al. 1971
Methanol Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Methanol This study
Dimethylsulfoxide Kinsley et al. 1971
Formamide Kinsley et al. 1971
Kaolinite
Heptane Bowders and Daniels 1987
Benzene Mesri and Olson 1971
Carbon tetrachloride Mesri and Olson 1971 ,-
Ethanol Mesri and Olson 1971 ,
Acetic acid Uppot and Stephenson,l989
Acetic acid Bowders and Daniels I987
Acetic acid Anderson et al. 1985
Aniline Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Aniline Anderson et al. 1985
For personal use only.

Acetone This study

Acetone Anderson et al. 1985
Methanol Uppot and Stephenson 1989
Methanol Bowders and Daniels 1987
Methanol Anderson et al. 1985
Methanol This study
Trichloroethylene Bowders and Daniels 1987
Ethylene glycol Anderson et al. 1985
Illite
Heptane Bowders and Daniels 1987
Benzene Mesri and Olson 1971
Carbon tetrachloride Mesri and Olson 1971
Ethanol Mesri and Olson 1971
Xylene Anderson et al. 1985
Acetic acid Bowders and Daniels 1987
Acetic acid Anderson et al. 1985
Aniline Anderson et al. 1985
Acetone Brown and Anderson 1971
Methanol Bowders and Daniels 1987
Methanol Anderson et al. 1985
Tricloroethylene Bowders and Daniels 1987
Ethylene glycol Anderson et al. 1985
NOTE:p, pore fluid; w, water; f and r, measurements made with a flexible or rigid wall device,
respectively.

the measured permeability for a given hydraulic gradient.
Given these fundamental differences between the two tests,
it is not surprising that permeabilities measured for similar
soils and fluids by the two tests are often different.
Experimental methods
One-dimensional consolidation tests were conducted on
samples (75 mm in diameter by 20 mm thick) of kaolinite,
montmorillonite, and a natural local clay soil (the Lockport
clay; a varved glaciolacustrine deposit found in the vicinity
of Lockport, New York). This soil is commonly used locally
as a material for the construction of berms, clay caps, and
landfill liners. X-ray diffraction examination of oriented and
random samples showed the presence of quartz, chlorite,
illite, and other silicate minerals, all very fine grained (i.e.,
clay sized) and typical of a glacially deposited soil.
The samples for the consolidation tests were prepared by
mixing the dry kaolinite or montmorillonite with deionized
water, acetone, or methanol at a fluid content equivalent
to the liquid limit of the clays. In the case of Lockport clay,
the effects of two additional fluids (methyl ethyl ketone and
ethylene glycol) were also studied. The liquid limits for all
samples were determined using the Casagrande cup method
with water as the fluid phase. The liquid limits of the
 144 CAN. GEOTECH. J. VOL. 28, 1991
\ \

I i,
10' 10' I

Montmorillonite A Montmorillonite ,?,

.-->
lr
-
P lo
m
E
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ti, 1 - L A

10 -
-I 1 I I I
0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2

dielectric constant ratio (t,It,,) dielectric constant ratio (t ,,/F, ,)

10'
lllite
For personal use only.

dielectric constant ratio (t , t,,) ,,

dielectric constant ratio (5 / 5 ,)

10'
Kaolinite Kaolinite c
*

+*
*
* *

dielectric constant ratio (5 ,/ ,)
FIG. 1. Permeability ratios ( k p / k wversus
) dielectric constant
ratios (Ep/Ew) for a group of organic fluids ( A , B, *)and water
(0) in three types of clay materials: (A)montmorillonite, ( B ) illite,
and ( C ) kaolinite. The data are taken from Table 2.
kaolinite, montmorillonite, and Lockport clay were 60, 130,
and 38070, respectively. After mixing, the samples were
placed in consolidation cells and allowed to equilibrate for
approximately 1 h prior to the initiation of the tests. In addi-
tion to permeability measurements with pure organic liquids
and water, various mixtures of methanol with water and of
E
ti,
P 1
* * * 1
dielectric constant ratio (5 ,/ <,)
FIG. 2. Selected permeability ratios ( k p / k w ,from Table 2 )
obtained from consolidation tests versus dielectric constant ratios
(Ep/E,) for a group of organic fluids ( A , m, *)and water (0)in
three types of clay materials: ( A ) montmorillonite-smectite,
(B) illite, and ( C ) kaolinite. The straight lines are plots of [6] with
different values for A.
acetone with water were used. The consolidation ring was
surrounded by liquid of the same composition as the
saturating fluid, and the entire consolidation cell was
enclosed within a plastic bag to reduce evaporation. The test
procedure followed the ASTM-D-2435 standard.
 BUDHU ET AL.
10' u et al. (1971) because the test conditions, and procedures
u appear to be similar in all three studies. These results, shown
10' - in Fig. 2, show a marked decrease in the permeability ratios
--c
0
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Sarnla clay
00 04 08 1 2
,
dielectric constant ratio (t;, / 5 ,)
FIG. 3. The permeability ratios (k,/k,") obtained from con-
solidation tests versus dielectric constant ratios (<,/4',) for a group
of organic fluids and water (0)in two natural clay soils (from
Table 2). The straight lines are plots of [6] with different values
for X.
All samples were initially vertically loaded with a stress
of 49 kPa, increasing at a load increment ratio of 1 UP to
a maximum vertical stress of 784 kPa. The coefficient of
permeability and the coefficient of consolidation at each
For personal use only.
stress level were computed by procedures described by
ASTM-D-2435.
When the consolidation test for each sample was corn-
pleted, a small fragment of the consolidated clay was
removed and examined in a scanning electron microscope
(SEM) to determine whether there were any changes to fabric
produced by the combination of Pore fluid and vertical
stress.
Results and discussion
Table 1 summarizes some of the properties of water and
selected organic fluids. As mentioned earlier, these proper-
ties are those that are most likely to influence the perme-
ability. The greatest differences in the values for these prop-
erties are seen in the dielectric constant. Table 2 shows the
results of permeability tests in the TFWP, RWCM, and the
CA culled from the literature and those from our tests. All
the permeabilities are normalized to that of water yielding
kp/k ,ratios. The subscripts f and r in Table 2 refer to per-
meability measurements that were made with flexible
(TFWP) and rigid-wall (RWCM and CA) devices,
respectively.
Figure 1 shows plots of permeability ratios, kp/kw,
against dielectric constant ratios, tp/tw(the dielectric con-
stant of the organic liquid normalized to that of water), for
montmorillonite, illite, and kaolinite using all the values
listed in Table 2. Examination of these plots revealed no con-
vincing relationship between the permeability ratio and the
dielectric constant ratio. The scatter in the results, partly
owing to differences in measurement technique, sample
preparation, stress states, and hydraulic head, makes even
a statistical evaluation intractable. It seems reasonable, given
the variability of the results from the different test devices,
to consider the results of each type of apparatus separately.
We selected the consolidation test results of this study along
with those reported by Mesri and Olson (1971) and Kinsky
, 145
I
as the dielectric constant ratios increase. This trend appears
to satisfy (given the large variability of the test measurements
and the sparseness of the test data) a single parameter rela-
tionship of the form
161 - kp --
,s
kw
where
[71 P = (1 - tp/tw)
X is a constant for a particular soil type with a given stress
history, and is the dielectric constant of the liquid. For
example, from the results of this study, the values of X for
montmorillonite and illite clay at a stress level of 98 kPa
(Figs. 2A and 2B) are 7 and 6, respectively, and a value of
X = 1 is a reasonable fit for kaolinite (Fig. 2C). Figure 3
depicts the results for Lockport clay and results from con-
solidation tests of another natural clay soil, brown Sarnia
clay, reported by Fernandez and Quigley (1985). Values of
X = 4.5 and X = 8 fit the data forxthe Lockport clay and
Sarnia clay, respectively, extremely well. We are uncertain
as to what soil properties determini: the value of X. We will
be conducting more tests to better understand the
significance of this parameter.
The mineralogy of,the foufioils examined in this study
is very different. Of the pure clay minerals, montmorillonite
is an expanding clay with a moderate layer charge, illite is
nonexpanding with a high layer charge, and kaolinite is non-
expanding with no layer charge. In addition, both mont-
morillonite and illite have a 2: 1 layer structure, while
kaolinite has a 1:l layer structure. Given the very fundamen-
tal differences in structure, layer charge, particle mor-
phology, and the surface chemistry of these clay minerals,
one would expect them to interact differently with organic
fluids, and this should result in different permeabilities. The
results shown in Fig. 2 show that indeed kaolinite is dif-
ferent, having a small variation in permeability for the dif-
ferent organic fluids. Most surprising, however, is the obser-
vation that both illite and montmorillonite have very similar
responses. This is not at all in accord with the calculations
of Gilligan and Clemence (1984) and strongly suggests that
the assumptions behind their methodology are incorrect.
During the present study, approximately 50 SEM photo-
graphs were taken at a variety of magnifications between
700 and 1500 (Campbell 1986) to determine if there were
substantial changes in the soil fabric resulting from the con-
solidation tests. Sample preparation was simple: the clay
cake was removed from the consolidation device and allowed
to dry. Subsequently, small fragments were broken from the
cake, and these were coated in a vacuum chamber with
palladium metal. The coated sample was then placed in the
SEM and examined. The fabric of a clay is easily disturbed,
so the validity of the interpretations based on comparison
of samples which may have been differently treated is,
therefore, open to question. The SEM examination of this
study was not meant to be a definitive effort; it was designed
to identify the presence of tactoids if they formed a sub-
stantial portion of the clay sample. Two typical photographs
are shown in Fig. 4. Figure 4A shows the texture of mont-
morillonite after consolidation to a vertical stress of 98 kPa
 CAN. GEOTECH. J . VOL. 28, 1991
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For personal use only.

FIG. 4. Scanning electron micrograph of (A) montmorillonite and (B) kaolinite saturated with acetone after consolidation to a ver-
tical stress of 98 kPa.

and Fig. 4B shows the structure of kaolinite at the same level preted as indicating the existence of tactoids (Campbell
of consolidation. No discernible differences in the clay fabric 1986).
were observed with either the montmorillonite or the Previous investigators (Gilligan and Clemence 1984) have
kaolinite, and no features were observed that could be inter- published results of permeabilities for pure water, pure
 J ET
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0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 .O
organic fluidlwater ratio
FIG. 5. The permeability ratio (k,/k,) for two kinds of clay
minerals (kaolinite and montmorillonite) with different mixtures
of water and acetone or methanol expressed as the volume ratio
of organic to water.
organic fluids, and a few intermediate mixtures. There has
been little attempt to examine the variation in the coeffi-
cient of permeability for soils using a broad range of per-
meants consisting of mixtures of different organic fluids and
water. Since the present work shows that the change in
dielectric constant plays the leading role in the permeabil-
For personal use only.
ity difference when the organic displaces the water, it is
important to determine the exact organidwater ratio at
which the permeability begins to increase significantly.
Figure 5 shows the permeabilities of kaolinite and mont-
morillonite with various ratios of organic liquid (acetone or
methanol) to water. The values of k,/k, were computed
from consolidation test data at a vertical stress of 98 kPa.
For an organic fluid / water ratio less than 0.7, very little
change in permeability was observed in comparison with the
value for pure water. Fernandez and Quigley (1988) obtained
similar results for Sarnia clay. The results obtained within
the limits of our study are, therefore, an independent con-
firmation that permeability will increase only if the organic
fluid content is greater than 70%, at which point the dielec-
tric constant of the organic fluid predominates.
Conclusions
Although a significant number of studies were carried out
to evaluate the permeability of soils with organic fluids as
permeants, it is still extremely difficult to select a single fac-
tor that can be identified as being responsible for the increase
in permeability when an organic fluid replaces water.
Published results of tests in the flexible-wall triaxial
apparatus and the rigid-wall (compaction mold and the con-
solidation) apparatus vary widely and are inconclusive. It
appears from this study, and others using the consolidation
apparatus, that the differences in dielectric constant between
AL. 147
,
the organic fluids and pure Gater cbrre~atebetter with the
observed changes in permeability tfian do& any other single
parameter for the organic liquids examined. A relationship
between permeability ratio and dielectric constant is pro-
posed in this paper that allows the calculation of the per-
meability of pure organic fluids based on the permeability
of the soil with water as the permeant and a knowledge of
the dielectric constant for the organic fluid. For mixtures
of organic and water, the soils examined in this study showed
very small changes in permeability for organic fluid con-
tents less than 70%.
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