Influences of Flow Transients and Porous Medium Heterogeneity on Colloid-Associated Contaminants Transport in the Vadose Zone

Saiers, James E. ; Ryan, Joseph

Yale University

关键词: Humic Acids;    Illite;    Transients;    Mathematical Models;    37 Inorganic, Organic, Physical And Analytical Chemistry;   

DOI  :  10.2172/839347
RP-ID  :  EMSP-86900--2003
RP-ID  :  FG07-02ER63491
RP-ID  :  839347

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

During the past year (June 2003 to June 2004), work at Yale has centered on investigating the influences of porewater pH, flow transients, and the presence of natural organic matter (NOM) on the deposition and mobilization of clay colloids (kaolinite and illite) within columns packed with unsaturated porous media. The experiments on pH and flow-transient effects were described in our First-Term Progress Report (which covered the initial 18 months of the study) and will not be repeated here. More recent experiments on the role of NOM in colloid transport proved equally as interesting. Even at porewater concentrations as low as 0.2 mg/L, soil-humic acid substantially lowered clay-colloid deposition rates compared to the case in which soil-humic acid was absent from the porewater. We attribute this to adsorption of the humic acid to the positively charged edge sites of the clay colloids, which effectively reduced the colloid affinity for negatively charged air- and solid-water interfaces. Comparison of the results of the column experiments to calculations of a new mathematical model has sharpened our inferences regarding mechanisms that govern the rate-limited deposition and mobilization of colloids. We are testing these inferences by carrying out flow-and-transport visualization experiments. We have constructed a semi-transparent representation of a porous medium, consisting of a rectangular parallel-plate chamber that encloses 3-5 layers of uniformly sized sand grains. Ceramic plates fused to the ends of the chamber maintain the capillary tension and syringe pumps (located at the inlet and outlet ends) regulate the flow of water and colloids through the partially saturated sand. By placing the chamber beneath a microscope, we can examine the distribution of colloids between air-water and solid-water interfaces, directly measure the kinetics of deposition onto these interfaces, and observe the mechanisms that contribute to the release of immobile colloids. To date, we have used fluorescent microspheres as the colloids, but, once we refine our methodology, we intend to use clay particles as the colloids.