Hydraulic and earth engineering – Fluid control – treatment – or containment
Patent
1997-04-02
2000-05-23
Bagnell, David J.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Fluid control, treatment, or containment
405 53, 405128, 405270, 588249, 521691, 454909, E02B 1300
Patent
active
060659017
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the dispersal and/or collection of gases permeating large volumes of material, such as harmful or inflammable gases permeating the ground in general.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As technology improves and more advanced testing is carried out, there is an increasing awareness that the ground around us may be permeated by gases such as radon or hydrocarbons which are injurious to health or may cause an explosion if allowed to concentrate in enclosed volumes, such as buildings. Such gases may be naturally occurring or produced for example by reactions in landfill sites.
Particularly in the latter case, there is a need to ensure, before the sites are commissioned, that measures are taken to prevent the gases from escaping into the surrounding terrain, both for safety reasons and because the gases are themselves a valuable asset, being usable as a fuel to generate power.
One measure which is currently used to prevent the spread and accumulation of underground gases is to dig a trench along a selected boundary of the contaminated ground, to line the side of the trench opposite the contaminated ground with gas-impermeable sheeting and to fill the trench with loose aggregate to provide a vent. The intention is that any gases reaching the trench will permeate up through the aggregate and will be dispersed into the atmosphere along its entire length, avoiding any build up in a particular area and preventing the further spread of the gases.
A problem which is found with this arrangement is that trenches tend to silt up over long periods of time to the extent that the aggregate loses its permeability in certain areas and the gases tend to be channelled along defined routes to exit from the trench at discrete locations rather than along its entire surface. Thus, in time, the trench promotes a concentration of gas in the atmosphere at certain locations, exactly the effect that it is intended to stop.
A further problem with the use of trenches is that, being designed to disperse gases into the atmosphere they do not assist in the collection of gases which are usable as a fuel or which, because of their harmful nature, should be contained rather than discharged.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide an alternative method of venting such ground-emanating or other gases which is more effective in the long term and more versatile in enabling either the collection or dispersal of gases to be achieved relatively simply.
Accordingly the present invention provides, in one aspect a method of preventing a flow of gas from a gas-containing region to an adjacent region and for collecting or dispersing gas at the interface between the regions, comprising installing between the two regions a barrier comprising a gas-impermeable layer and a gas-permeable membrane interconnected so as to define an interspace between them, and arranging the barrier with the permeable layer facing the region containing gas to be dispersed or collected, connecting an aperture or apertures of the barrier communicating with the interspace to a pump means for pumping gas into or out from the interspace, and creating, by the pump means, a pressure differential across the permeable membrane such as to cause gas to flow therethrough across a major proportion of its surface.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a system for preventing a flow of gas from a gas-containing region to an adjacent region and for collecting or dispersing gas at the interface between the regions, comprising a barrier installed so as to separate the two regions, the barrier comprising a gas-impermeable layer and a gas-permeable membrane interconnected so as to define an interspace between them and arranged with the permeable layer facing the region containing gas to be dispersed or collected, and a pump means connected to an aperture or apertures of the barrier communicating with the interspace for pumping gas into or out from the interspace so as to create a pressure diff
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Martin Malcolm
Nichols Paul
Stevens Richard
Bagnell David J.
Lee Jong-Suk
Prestige Air Technology Limited
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