Longitudinal dispersion of microplastics in aquatic flows using fluorometric techniques

WATER RESEARCH

卷:170

Article

Cook, Sarah¹  Chan, Hui-Ling²  Abolfathi, Soroush¹  Bending, Gary D.³  Schafer, Hendrik³  Pearson, Jonathan M.¹ 

[1] Univ Warwick, Sch Engn, Lib Rd, Coventry CV4 7AL, W Midlands, England

[2] Nanyang Technol Univ, Sch Civil & Environm Engn, Singapore, Singapore

[3] Univ Warwick, Sch Life Sci, Coventry CV4 7AL, W Midlands, England

关键词: Microplastics;    Fluorometric tracing;    Longitudinal dispersion;    Uniform flow;    Microplastic transport;    Advection-diffusion;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.watres.2019.115337

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Microplastics are an emerging environmental contaminant. Existing knowledge on the precise transport processes involved in the movement of microplastics in natural water bodies is limited. Microplastic fate-transport models rely on numerical simulations with limited empirical data to support and validate these models. We adopted fluorometric principles to track the movement of both fluorescent dye and florescent stained microplastics (polyethylene) in purpose-built laboratory flumes with standard fibreoptic fluorometers. Neutrally buoyant microptastics behaved in the same manner as a solute (Rhodamine) and more importantly displayed classical fundamental dispersion theory in uniform open channel flow. This suggests Rhodamine, a fluorescent tracer, can be released into the natural environment with the potential to mimic microplastic movement in the water column. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

【 授权许可】

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