Case Study: Chemical Project, West Bengal – Ensuring Safety and Containment with Ocean HDPE Liner

Ocean Non Wovens supplied 1 roll of Ocean HDPE Liner to line a chemical waste containment pit at a chemical plant in West Bengal. The liner keeps hazardous by-products in the pit and out of the soil and groundwater below.

Project overview

• Location: West Bengal, India
• Industry: Chemical manufacturing and storage
• Product used: Ocean HDPE Liner
• Quantity supplied: 1 Roll
• Purpose: Chemical waste containment and leak prevention

Chemical plants handling acids, alkalis, solvents and industrial effluents need containment that does not let these liquids reach the ground. Here the aim was a secure lined pit for hazardous chemical by-products, with no seepage towards nearby groundwater.

Challenges

1. Chemical compatibility: the liner would be in continuous contact with corrosive liquids, solvents and acidic compounds.
2. Temperature swings: West Bengal has hot, humid summers and a heavy monsoon. HDPE expands and contracts noticeably with temperature, so the liner has to be installed with that movement in mind.
3. Service life: the client wanted a long service life (>25 years) with minimal maintenance under chemical exposure.
4. Leak prevention: with hazardous chemicals, even a small leak means soil and groundwater contamination and a regulatory problem.

Solution: Ocean HDPE Liner

Ocean Non Wovens recommended and supplied Ocean HDPE Liner, a high-density polyethylene geomembrane. HDPE is the standard choice for chemical containment because it resists a wider range of chemicals than most other liner polymers, including PVC and LLDPE.

Key technical features of Ocean HDPE Liner

HDPE is not immune to everything. It has a high coefficient of thermal expansion, and it can suffer stress cracking under sustained tension, which is why GRI-GM13 sets a minimum stress crack resistance measured by ASTM D5397. Good installation (slack for temperature movement, no tight bridging at corners) matters as much as the resin.

Implementation and installation

The project involved lining a chemical waste containment pit. The 1 roll of Ocean HDPE Liner was custom-sized and pre-tested for chemical compatibility before dispatch.

1. Surface preparation: the containment area was levelled and compacted, and sharp stones and debris that could puncture the liner were removed.
2. Liner deployment: the roll was unrolled and spread across the pit by hand, without stretching the sheet.
3. Seaming: joints were made by fusion welding and checked by air channel testing (ASTM D5820 covers pressurised testing of dual-track seams).
4. Testing and verification: seam quality was verified against ASTM D6392, the standard method for peel and shear testing of thermo-fusion seams in HDPE geomembranes.

Why HDPE liners matter in chemical applications

A spill on a concrete floor is visible. Seepage from an unlined or poorly lined pit is not: chemicals migrate down through the soil for months or years before they show up in a well. An HDPE liner stops liquid flow outright and slows diffusion of most chemicals to a very low rate, which is why it is used under chemical pits, effluent ponds and hazardous waste cells.

In India, hazardous waste handling falls under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, and CPCB guidelines expect hazardous waste storage and disposal areas to be designed so that waste cannot contaminate soil or groundwater. A lined pit helps a plant meet that requirement.

Pre-installation compatibility testing

HDPE performs well with most chemicals, but behaviour varies with concentration, pH, temperature and exposure time. For this project, Ocean Non Wovens carried out lab-scale immersion tests on liner samples with the chemicals used at the site, checking for swelling, cracking or loss of properties before the liner went in. Immersion testing of this kind is described in ASTM D5322 and US EPA Method 9090.

For chemical, effluent or oil containment, call +91 84472 26007 or see more case studies.