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Breakthrough Curves (breakthrough + curve)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Engineering	50%
Chemistry	35%
Life Sciences	5%
2 Other Domains	10%

Selected Abstracts

Predicting the Tails of Breakthrough Curves in Regional-Scale Alluvial Systems

GROUND WATER, Issue 4 2007
Yong Zhang
The late tail of the breakthrough curve (BTC) of a conservative tracer in a regional-scale alluvial system is explored using Monte Carlo simulations. The ensemble numerical BTC, for an instantaneous point source injected into the mobile domain, has a heavy late tail transforming from power law to exponential due to a maximum thickness of clayey material. Haggerty et al.'s (2000) multiple-rate mass transfer (MRMT) method is used to predict the numerical late-time BTCs for solutes in the mobile phase. We use a simple analysis of the thicknesses of fine-grained units noted in boring logs to construct the memory function that describes the slow decline of concentrations at very late time. The good fit between the predictions and the numerical results indicates that the late-time BTC can be approximated by a summation of a small number of exponential functions, and its shape depends primarily on the thicknesses and the associated volume fractions of immobile water in "blocks" of fine-grained material. The prediction of the late-time BTC using the MRMT method relies on an estimate of the average advective residence time, tad. The predictions are not sensitive to estimation errors in tad, which can be approximated by , where is the arithmetic mean ground water velocity and L is the transport distance. This is the first example of deriving an analytical MRMT model from measured hydrofacies properties to predict the late-time BTC. The parsimonious model directly and quantitatively relates the observable subsurface heterogeneity to nonlocal transport parameters. [source]

The effect of surface,solute interactions on the transport of solutes through porous materials

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 3 2009
D. A. Rose
Summary We have investigated the effect of differences in surface charge, valency of ion, solute concentration, solution flux and physical structure on the leaching and uptake of individual ions from simple solutions flowing through porous materials. We studied the miscible displacement of solutions of four salts (KBr, K2SO4, CaBr2 and CaSO4) having different cation : anion ratios separately through three inert materials (ballotini, pumice and ceramic) and two sizes of a reactive material (sepiolite) over several ranges of concentration (c) and at many pore-water velocities (v) under steady vertical saturated flow. Breakthrough curves of individual effluent ions (K+, Br,, Ca2+ and SO42,) were analysed by CXTFIT 2.0 to optimize transport parameters (retardation factor, R; dispersion coefficient, K) assuming that transport was governed by the convective,dispersion equation. In the inert materials, R did not differ significantly from 1 irrespective of c. In sepiolite, R was < 1 for anions and > 1 for cations, and became more extreme as c decreased. R varied with the valency of the anions, as predicted by diffuse double layer theory, and with that of the cations by a simple charge balance. Freundlich isotherms, reconstructed from R values, described the sorption of the cations and exclusion of the anions. For the inert materials, K did not depend on the ion or c and increased monotonically with v. For sepiolite, K also increased with v and with small but non-significant differences between ions and concentrations. The K(v) functions were consistent with Passioura's theory of dispersion in aggregated media, and the transport was reversible as R and K values did not depend on whether the media were being leached or resalinized. The effective dispersion coefficient of an ion is K* = K/R so, although K(v) appears to be unaffected by ion or concentration of solute in sepiolite, K*(v) will be affected. Thus, the controlling factor of these surface,solute interactions is R. [source]

Simulation of water flow and solute transport in free-drainage lysimeters and field soils with heterogeneous structures

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2004
H. M. Abdou
Summary Lysimeters are valuable for studying the fate and transport of chemicals in soil. Large-scale field lysimeters are used to assess pesticide behaviour and radionuclide transport, and are assumed to represent natural field conditions better than laboratory columns. Field lysimeters are usually characterized by a free-draining lower boundary. As a result, the hydraulic gradient is disrupted, and leachate cannot be collected until the bottom of the lysimeter becomes saturated. We compared heterogeneously structured, free-drainage lysimeters and field soils with respect to water flow and solute transport. Numerical simulations were carried out in a two-dimensional heterogeneous sandy soil under unsaturated water flow conditions with the CHAIN_2D code. Three different soil structures (isotropic, horizontal, and vertical) were generated, and Miller,Miller similitude was used to scale the hydraulic properties of the soil. The results showed that ponding occurs at the bottom of the lysimeter for the three soil structures and that it occurred faster and was more pronounced with the vertical structure (preferential flow effect). Breakthrough curves of a conservative solute (bromide) showed that solutes are moving faster in the field than in the lysimeters. Fewer differences between lysimeters and field soils were found with the horizontal soil structure than with the isotropic and vertical structures. [source]

Retardation of Organic Contaminants in Natural Fractures in Chalk

GROUND WATER, Issue 3 2002
A. Wefer-Roehl
Transport of a conservative compound and two sorbing compounds through fractured chalk was studied using flow-through columns consisting of chalk cores with a single subvertical fracture. Two types of chalk matrix were compared, an oxidized white chalk with low organic carbon content (0.2%), and a gray chalk with a higher organic carbon content (1.3%). Initial rapid breakthrough followed by a delayed approach to a relative concentration of unity for the conservative compound (2,6,difluorobenzoic acid [DFBA]) was clear evidence for diffusion into the porous chalk matrix. Matrix diffusion of DFBA was apparently much greater in the gray chalk columns than in the white chalk columns. Breakthrough curves (BTCs) of the sorbing compounds (2,4,6,tri-bromophenol [TBP] and ametryn [AME]) were retarded in all cases as compared to the conservative compound. Sorption retardation was far greater in the gray chalk as compared with the white chalk, in good agreement with results from batch sorption experiments. BTCs for the conservative compound were relatively nonhysteretic for both white and gray chalk columns. In contrast, BTCs for the sorbing compounds were hysteretic in all cases, demonstrating that sorption was not at equilibrium before desorp-tion began. These experiments suggest that on a field scale, transport of contaminants through fractures in chalk and other fractured porous media will be attenuated by diffusion and sorption into the matrix. [source]

Separation of mono- and dibranched hydrocarbons on silicalite

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 9 2002
E. Jolimaitre
Breakthrough curves for mixtures of C5 and C6 hydrocarbons with different degrees of branching were obtained experimentally on a silicalite molecular sieve by fixed-bed experiments. The kinetic separation of di- from monobranched hydrocarbons was feasible on this type of zeolite: dimethyl molecules enter silicalite crystals very slowly, whereas monomethyl molecules are quickly adsorbed. Experimental results were compared to a theoretical isothermal model, considering the variation of diffusivity with concentration according to the Maxwell,Stefan theory. The parameters of the model (adsorption equilibria and diffusivities) were determined from single-component breakthrough curves. Experimental curves were generally well represented by the model, but the variation of diffusivity with concentration, as predicted by the Maxwell,Stefan theory, did not significantly improve the model prediction of experimental breakthrough curves by using a mean value of diffusivity. [source]

Predicting the Tails of Breakthrough Curves in Regional-Scale Alluvial Systems

Analyzing Bank Filtration by Deconvoluting Time Series of Electric Conductivity

GROUND WATER, Issue 3 2007
Olaf A. Cirpka
Knowing the travel-time distributions from infiltrating rivers to pumping wells is important in the management of alluvial aquifers. Commonly, travel-time distributions are determined by releasing a tracer pulse into the river and measuring the breakthrough curve in the wells. As an alternative, one may measure signals of a time-varying natural tracer in the river and in adjacent wells and infer the travel-time distributions by deconvolution. Traditionally this is done by fitting a parametric function such as the solution of the one-dimensional advection-dispersion equation to the data. By choosing a certain parameterization, it is impossible to determine features of the travel-time distribution that do not follow the general shape of the parameterization, i.e., multiple peaks. We present a method to determine travel-time distributions by nonparametric deconvolution of electric-conductivity time series. Smoothness of the inferred transfer function is achieved by a geostatistical approach, in which the transfer function is assumed as a second-order intrinsic random time variable. Nonnegativity is enforced by the method of Lagrange multipliers. We present an approach to directly compute the best nonnegative estimate and to generate sets of plausible solutions. We show how the smoothness of the transfer function can be estimated from the data. The approach is applied to electric-conductivity measurements taken at River Thur, Switzerland, and five wells in the adjacent aquifer, but the method can also be applied to other time-varying natural tracers such as temperature. At our field site, electric-conductivity fluctuations appear to be an excellent natural tracer. [source]

Can Contaminant Transport Models Predict Breakthrough?

GROUND WATER MONITORING & REMEDIATION, Issue 4 2000
Wei-Shyuan "Stone" Peng
A solute breakthrough curve measured during a two-well tracer test was successfully predicted in 1986 using specialized contaminant transport models. Water was injected into a confined, unconsolidated sand aquifer and pumped out 125 feet (38.3 m) away at the same steady rate. The injected water was spiked with bromide for over three days; the outflow concentration was monitored for a month. Based on previous tests, the horizontal hydraulic conductivity of the thick aquifer varied by a factor of seven among 12 layers. Assuming stratified flow with small dispersivities, two research groups accurately predicted breakthrough with three-dimensional (12-layer) models using curvilinear elements following the arc-shaped flowlines in this test. Can contaminant transport models commonly used in industry, that use rectangular blocks, also reproduce this breakthrough curve? The two-well test was simulated with four MODFLOW-based models, MT3D (FD and HMOC options), MODFLOWT, MOC3D, and MODFLOW-SURFACT. Using the same 12 layers and small dispersivity used in the successful 1986 simulations, these models fit almost as accurately as the models using curvilinear blocks. Subtle variations in the curves illustrate differences among the codes. Sensitivities of the results to number and size of grid blocks, number of layers, boundary conditions, and values of dispersivity and porosity are briefly presented. The fit between calculated and measured breakthrough curves degenerated as the number of layers and/or grid blocks decreased, reflecting a loss of model predictive power as the level of characterization lessened. Therefore, the breakthrough curve for most field sites can be predicted only qualitatively due to limited characterization of the hydrogeology and contaminant source strength. [source]

Interpretation of the enhancement of field-scale effective matrix diffusion coefficient in a single fracture using a semi-analytical power series solution

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 6 2009
Tai-Sheng Liou
Abstract A power series solution for convergent radial transport in a single fracture (PCRTSF) is developed. Transport processes considered in PCRTSF include advection and hydrodynamic dispersion in the fracture, molecular diffusion in the matrix, diffusive mass exchange across the fracture-matrix interface, and mixing effects in the injection and the extraction boreholes. An analytical solution in terms of a power series in Laplace domain is developed first, which is then numerically inverted by de-Hoog et al.'s algorithm. Four dimensionless parameters determine the behaviour of a breakthrough curve (BTC) calculated by PCRTSF, which are, in the order of decreasing sensitivity, the matrix diffusion factor, two mixing factors, and the Peclet number. The first parameter is lumped from matrix porosity, effective matrix diffusion coefficient, fracture aperture, and retardation factors. Its value increases as the matrix diffusion effect becomes significant. A non-zero matrix diffusion factor results in a , 3/2 slope of the tail of a log,log BTC, a common property for tracer diffusion into an infinite matrix. Both mixing factors have equal effects on BTC characteristics. However, the Peclet number has virtually no effect on BTC tail. PCRTSF is applied to re-analyse two published test results that were obtained from convergent radial tracer tests in a discrete, horizontal fracture in Silurian dolomite. PCRTSF is able to fit the field BTCs better than the original channel model does if a large matrix diffusion coefficient is used. Noticeably, the ratio of field-scale to lab-scale matrix diffusion coefficients can be as large as 378. This enhancement of the field-scale matrix diffusion coefficient may be ascribed to the presence of a degraded zone at the fracture-matrix interface because of karstic effects, or to flow channeling as a result of aperture heterogeneity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst transport in porous media

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 11 2004
Song-Bae Kim
Abstract Cryptosporidium parvum is a protozoan parasite, transmitted through aqueous environments in the form of an oocyst. In this study, a transport model into which sorption, filtration and inactivation mechanisms are incorporated is applied to simulate laboratory column data, and the suitability of a kinetic model to describe the C. parvum oocyst transport and removal in porous media is compared with an equilibrium model. The kinetic model is applied to simulate previous column experimental data and successfully simulates the concentration peak; the late time tailing effect appeared in the breakthrough curves, indicating that the kinetic model is more suitable than the equilibrium one at simulating the fate and transport of the oocysts in porous media. Simulation illustrates that sorption causes retardation along with a tailing in the breakthrough curve. Additionally, filtration acts as a major mechanism of removing the oocysts from the aqueous phase, whereas the role of inactivation in reducing the viable oocyst concentration is minimal. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Removal characteristics of some priority organic pollutants from water in a fixed bed fly ash column

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2005
Mitali Sarkar
Abstract The efficiency of a coal fly ash (generated from a thermal power plant) adsorption column for the removal of some priority organic pollutants, viz phenol, o -hydroxyphenol, m -hydroxyphenol and 4-nitrophenol from aqueous solution has been studied. The column performance was evaluated from the concept of the formation of a primary adsorption zone and the breakthrough curve. The extent of solute removal obtained from breakthrough curve during column operation was compared with that obtained from the isotherm parameters for batch operation. The loaded solutes in the column were successfully eluted with acetone, achieving 98% recovery. In order to determine the practical applicability of the column operation the process was repeated a number of times and the variation of column capacity with number of operation cycles was evaluated. Even after six successive cycles, the column was found to retain almost 80% capacity. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Modeling of protein breakthrough performance in cryogel columns by taking into account the overall axial dispersion

JOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 15-16 2009
Junxian Yun
Abstract A model considering the overall axial dispersion for describing protein adsorption and breakthrough in monolithic cryogel beds has been developed. The microstructure of cryogels was characterized by tortuous capillaries with a normal diameter distribution but a constant pore wall thickness. The axial dispersion within cryogel columns was described by using the overall axial dispersion coefficient, which can be easily obtained by matching the experimental breakthrough curves without adsorption or measuring residence time distributions (RTDs). Experimental breakthrough curves of lysozyme within a metal-chelated affinity cryogel by Persson et al. (Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2004, 88, 224,236) and a cation-exchange cryogel by Yao et al. (J. Chromatogr. A 2007, 1157, 246,251) were employed as examples to test the model. The results showed that by using the axial dispersion coefficient and assuming uniform radial concentration profile at a given cross-section of the cryogel along the bed height, the model can describe the detailed behaviors of the in-bed overall axial dispersion, the in-pore mass transfer, as well as the protein adsorption and breakthrough. For a known overall axial dispersion coefficient, the lumped parameter of the mass transfer coefficient between the bulk liquid and the capillary wall can be determined by fitting the protein breakthrough curve at a known chromatographic condition. Once this parameter is determined, the model can be used to predict the protein breakthrough profiles under different conditions based on the basic physical parameters of the cryogel bed and the properties of the fluid and protein. The effective capillary diameters employed in the model are close to the actual pore sizes observed from the images by SEM. The model predictions of lysozyme breakthrough profiles at various flow rates are also in good agreement with the experimental data in both the metal-chelated affinity and cation-exchange cryogel columns. [source]

A review of in situ measurement of organic compound transformation in groundwater,,

PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE (FORMERLY: PESTICIDE SCIENCE), Issue 4 2001
Sharon K Papiernik
Abstract Laboratory assessments of the rate of degradation of organic compounds in groundwater have been criticized for producing unrepresentative results. The potential for organic compounds to be transformed in groundwater has been measured using in situ methods, which avoid problems of attempting to duplicate aquifer conditions in the laboratory. In situ assessments of transformation rates have been accomplished using transport studies and in situ microcosms (ISMs); a review of these methods is given here. In transport studies, organic solutes are injected into an aquifer and the concentrations are monitored as they are transported downgradient. The change in mass of a solute is determined by the area contained under the breakthrough curve (plot of concentration versus time). ISMs isolate a portion of the aquifer from advective flow and act as in situ batch reactors. Experiments using ISMs involve removing water from the ISM, amending it with the solutes of interest, re-injecting the amended water, and monitoring the solute concentrations with time. In both transport and ISM studies, the loss of organic solutes from solution does not allow a distinction to be made between sorptive, abiotic and biotic transformation losses. Biological activity can be chemically suppressed in ISMs and the results from those experiments used to indicate sorption and abiotic loss. Transformation products may be monitored to provide additional information on transformation mechanisms and rates. Published in 2001 for SCI by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source]

Solute and Colloid Transport in Karst Conduits under Low- and High-Flow Conditions

GROUND WATER, Issue 1 2008
Nadine Göppert
Solute and colloid transport in karst aquifers under low and high flows was investigated by tracer tests using fluorescent dyes (uranine) and microspheres of the size of pathogenic bacteria (1 ,m) and Cryptosporidium cysts (5 ,m), which were injected into a cave stream and sampled at a spring 2.5 km away. The two types of microspheres were analyzed using an epifluorescence microscope or a novel fluorescence particle counter, respectively. Uranine breakthrough curves (BTCs) were regular shaped and recovery approached 100%. Microsphere recoveries ranged between 27% and 75%. During low flow, the 1-,m spheres displayed an irregular BTC preceding the uranine peak. Only a very few 5-,m spheres were recovered. During high flow, the 1-,m-sphere BTC was regular and more similar to the uranine curve. BTCs were modeled analytically with CXTFIT using a conventional advection dispersion model (ADM) and a two-region nonequilibrium model (2RNE). The results show that (1) colloids travel at higher velocities than solutes during low flow; (2) colloids and solutes travel at similar velocities during high flow; (3) higher maximum concentrations occur during high flow; and (4) the 2RNE achieves a better fit, while the ADM is more robust, as it requires less parameters. [source]

Contaminant Transport in Fractured Chalk: Laboratory and Field Experiments

GROUND WATER, Issue 6 2003
K. Witthüser
Laboratory experiments were performed on chalk samples from Denmark and Israel to determine diffusion and distribution coefficients. Batch tests were used to define sorption isotherms for naphthalene and o-xylene. Linear sorption isotherms were observed and described with Henry-isotherms. Because of the high purity and low contents of clay minerals and organic carbon, Danish and white Israeli chalk generally have low retardation capacities. Con-trarily, gray Israeli chalk, with organic carbon fractions as high as 1.092%, remarkably retards organic contaminants. The Koc concept is not applicable to predicting distribution coefficients based on the organic carbon content in the chalk samples. Effective diffusivities of o -xylene, naphthalene, and several artificial tracers were determined using through-diffusion experiments. Based on measured diffusion coefficients and available literature values, a chalk specific exponent of 2.36 for Archie's law was derived, allowing a satisfactory estimate of relative diffusivities in chalk. A field-scale tracer test with uranine and lithium was performed in the Negev desert (Israel) to examine the transfer-ability of diffusivities determined on small rock samples in the laboratory. Due to low recovery rates of the tracer, a modified single fissure dispersion model was used for inverse modeling of the breakthrough curves. Resulting diffusivities deviate insignificantly from the laboratory values, which are considered to be representative for the investigated part of the aquifer and applicable in transport models. [source]

Analysis of a Vertical Dipole Tracer Test in Highly Fractured Rock

GROUND WATER, Issue 5 2002
William E. Sanford
The results of a vertical dipole tracer experiment performed in highly fractured rocks of the Clare Valley, South Australia, are presented. The injection and withdrawal piezometers were both screened over 3 m and were separated by 6 m (midpoint to midpoint). Due to the long screen length, several fracture sets were intersected, some of which do not connect the two piezometers. Dissolved helium and bromide were injected into the dipole flow field for 75 minutes, followed by an additional 510 minutes of flushing. The breakthrough of helium was retarded relative to bromide, as was expected due to the greater aqueous diffusion coefficient of helium. Also, only 25% of the total mass injected of both tracers was recovered. Modeling of the tracer transport was accomplished using an analytical one-dimensional flow and transport model for flow through a fracture with diffusion into the matrix. The assumptions made include: streamlines connecting the injection and withdrawal point can be modeled as a dipole of equal strength, flow along each streamline is one dimensional, and there is a constant Peclet number for each streamline. In contrast to many other field tracer studies performed in fractured rock, the actual travel length between piezometers was not known. Modeling was accomplished by fitting the characteristics of the tracer breakthrough curves (BTCs), such as arrival times of the peak concentration and the center of mass. The important steps were to determine the fracture aperture (240 ,m) based on the parameters that influence the rate of matrix diffusion (this controls the arrival time of the peak concentration); estimating the travel distance (11 m) by fitting the time of arrival of the centers of mass of the tracers; and estimating fracture dispersivity (0.5 m) by fitting the times that the inflection points occurred on the front and back limbs of the BTCs. This method works even though there was dilution in the withdrawal well, the amount of which can be estimated by determining the value that the modeled concentrations need to be reduced to fit the data (,50%). The use of two tracers with different diffusion coefficients was not necessary, but it provides important checks in the modeling process because the apparent retardation between the two tracers is evidence of matrix diffusion and the BTCs of both tracers need to be accurately modeled by the best fit parameters. [source]

Can Contaminant Transport Models Predict Breakthrough?

The effect of riparian land use on transport hydraulics in agricultural headwater streams located in northeast Ohio, USA

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 1 2010
Kyle S. Herrman
Abstract This study examined if riparian land use (forested vs agricultural) affects hydraulic transport in headwater streams located in an agriculturally fragmented watershed. We identified paired 50-m reaches (one reach in agricultural land use and the other in forested land use) along three headwater streams in the Upper Sugar Creek Watershed in northeast Ohio, USA (40° 51,42,N, 81° 50,29,W). Using breakthrough curves obtained by Rhodamine WT slug injections and the one-dimensional transport with inflow and storage model (OTIS), hydraulic transport parameters were obtained for each reach on six different occasions (n = 36). Relative transient storage (AS:A) was similar between both reach types (As: A = 0·3 ± 0·1 for both agricultural and forested reaches). Comparing values of Fmed200 to those in the literature indicates that the effect of transient storage was moderately high in the study streams in the Upper Sugar Creek Watershed. Examining travel times revealed that overall residence time (HRT) and residence time in transient storage (TSTO) were both longer in forested reaches (forested HRT = 19·1 ± 11·5 min and TSTO = 4·0 ± 3·8 min; agricultural HRT = 9·3 ± 5·3 min and TSTO = 1·7 ± 1·4 min). We concluded that the effect of transient storage on solute transport was similar between the forested and agricultural reaches but the forested reaches had a greater potential to retain solutes as a result of longer travel times. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Analytical power series solutions to the two-dimensional advection,dispersion equation with distance-dependent dispersivities

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 24 2008
Jui-Sheng Chen
Abstract As is frequently cited, dispersivity increases with solute travel distance in the subsurface. This behaviour has been attributed to the inherent spatial variation of the pore water velocity in geological porous media. Analytically solving the advection,dispersion equation with distance-dependent dispersivity is extremely difficult because the governing equation coefficients are dependent upon the distance variable. This study presents an analytical technique to solve a two-dimensional (2D) advection,dispersion equation with linear distance-dependent longitudinal and transverse dispersivities for describing solute transport in a uniform flow field. The analytical approach is developed by applying the extended power series method coupled with the Laplace and finite Fourier cosine transforms. The developed solution is then compared to the corresponding numerical solution to assess its accuracy and robustness. The results demonstrate that the breakthrough curves at different spatial locations obtained from the power series solution show good agreement with those obtained from the numerical solution. However, owing to the limited numerical operation for large values of the power series functions, the developed analytical solution can only be numerically evaluated when the values of longitudinal dispersivity/distance ratio eL exceed 0·075. Moreover, breakthrough curves obtained from the distance-dependent solution are compared with those from the constant dispersivity solution to investigate the relationship between the transport parameters. Our numerical experiments demonstrate that a previously derived relationship is invalid for large eL values. The analytical power series solution derived in this study is efficient and can be a useful tool for future studies in the field of 2D and distance-dependent dispersive transport. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Solute movement through intact columns of cryoturbated Upper Chalk

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 13 2008
M. Mahmood-ul-Hassan
Abstract Cryoturbated Upper Chalk is a dichotomous porous medium wherein the intra-fragment porosity provides water storage and the inter-fragment porosity provides potential pathways for relatively rapid flow near saturation. Chloride tracer movement through 43 cm long and 45 cm diameter undisturbed chalk columns was studied at water application rates of 0·3, 1·0, and 1·5 cm h,1. Microscale heterogeneity in effluent was recorded using a grid collection system consisting of 98 funnel-shaped cells each 3·5 cm in diameter. The total porosity of the columns was 0·47 ± 0·02 m3 m,3, approximately 13% of pores were , 15 µm diameter, and the saturated hydraulic conductivity was 12·66 ± 1·31 m day,1. Although the column remained unsaturated during the leaching even at all application rates, proportionate flow through macropores increased as the application rate decreased. The number of dry cells (with 0 ml of effluent) increased as application rate decreased. Half of the leachate was collected from 15, 19 and 22 cells at 0·3, 1·0, 1·5 cm h,1 application rates respectively. Similar breakthrough curves (BTCs) were obtained at all three application rates when plotted as a function of cumulative drainage, but they were distinctly different when plotted as a function of time. The BTCs indicate that the columns have similar drainage requirement irrespective of application rates, as the rise to the maxima (C/Co) is almost similar. However, the time required to achieve that leaching requirement varies with application rates, and residence time was less in the case of a higher application rate. A two-region convection,dispersion model was used to describe the BTCs and fitted well (r2 = 0·97,0·99). There was a linear relationship between dispersion coefficient and pore water velocity (correlation coefficient r = 0·95). The results demonstrate the microscale heterogeneity of hydrodynamic properties in the Upper Chalk. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Evaluating the transport and removal of chromate using pyrite and biotite columns

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 14 2007
Chul-Min Chon
Abstract To remove chromate from a wastewater, a porous permeable reactive barrier system (PRBS), using pyrite and biotite, was adapted. This study included bench-scale column experiments to evaluate the efficiency of the PRBS and investigate the reaction process. The total chromium concentration of the effluent from the biotite and pyrite columns reached the influent concentration of 0·10 mM after passing through more than 150 pore volumes (PVs) and 27 PVs respectively, and remained constant thereafter. The CrVI concentration in the effluent from the biotite column became constant at about 0·08 mM, accounting for approximately 80% of the influent concentration, after passing through 200 PVs. Moreover, in the pyrite column, the CrVI concentration remained at about 0·01 mM, 10% of the input level, after passing through 116 PVs. This shows that both columns maintained their levels of chromate reduction once the CrVI breakthrough curves (BTCs) had reached the steady state, though the steady-state output concentration of total chromium had reached the influent level. The variances of the iron concentration closely followed those of the chromium. The observed data for both columns were fitted to the predicted BTCs calculated by CXTFIT, a program for estimating the solute transport parameters from experimental data. The degradation coefficient µ of the total chromium BTCs for both columns was zero, suggesting the mechanisms for the removal of chromate limit the µ of the CrVI BTCs. The CrVI degradation of the pyrite column (6·60) was much greater than that of the biotite column (0·27). In addition, the CrVI retardation coefficient R of the pyrite column (253) was also larger than that of the biotite column (125). The R values for the total chromium BTCs from both columns were smaller than those of the CrVI BTC. Whereas the total chromium BTC for the pyrite column showed little retardation (1·5), the biotite column showed considerable retardation (80). The results for the 900 °C heat-treated biotite column were analogous to those of the control column (quartz sand). This suggests that the heat-treated biotite played no role in the retardation and removal of hexavalent chromium. The parameters of the heat-treated biotite were calculated to an R of 1·2 and µ of 0·01, and these values confirmed quantitatively that the heated biotite had little effect on the transport of CrVI. These solute transport parameters, calculated by CXTFIT from the data obtained from the column tests, can provide quantitative information for the evaluation of bench- or field-scale columns as a removal technology for CrVI in wastewater or contaminated groundwater. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Analysis of Cryptosporidium parvum oocyst transport in porous media

Sorption of copper by a highly mineralized peat in batch and packed-bed systems

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Marta Izquierdo
Abstract BACKGROUND: The performance of peat for copper sorption was investigated in batch and fixed-bed experiments. The effect of pH was evaluated in batch experiments and the experimental data were fitted to an equilibrium model including pH dependence. Hydrodynamic axial dispersion was estimated by tracing experiments using LiCl as a tracer. Six fixed-bed experiments were carried out at copper concentrations between 1 and 60 mg dm,3 and the adsorption isotherm in dynamic mode was obtained. A mass transport model including convection,dispersion and sorption processes was applied for breakthrough curve modelling. RESULTS: Maximum uptake capacities in batch mode were 22.0, 36.4, and 43.7 mg g,1 for pH values of 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0, respectively. Uptake capacities in continuous flow systems varied from 36.5 to 43.4 mg g,1 for copper concentrations between 1 and 60 mg dm,3. Dynamic and batch isotherms showed different shapes but a similar maximum uptake capacity. Sorbent regeneration was successfully performed with HCl. A potential relationship between dispersion coefficient and velocity was obtained with dispersion coefficients between 5.00 × 10,8 and 2.95 × 10,6 m2 s,1 for water velocities ranging between 0.56 × 10,4 and 5.03 × 10,4 m s,1. The mass transport model predicted both the breakpoints and the shape of the breakthrough curves. CONCLUSIONS: High retention capacities indicate that peat can be used as an effective sorbent for the treatment of wastewater containing copper ions. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Reactive transport parameter estimation: Genetic algorithm vs.

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 8 2009
Monte carlo approach
Abstract This article concerns reactive transport in porous media with an emphasis on the optimization of the chemical parameters. The transport of Cadmium (Cd) and tributyltin (TBT) in column experiments were used as test cases. The reactive transport model is described by a set of chemical reactions with equilibrium constants as the main adjustable parameters. As such a problem is highly nonlinear and can have multiple minima, global parameter estimation methods are more suitable than local gradient-based methods. This article focuses on the application of a genetic algorithm (GA) in estimating chemical equilibrium parameters of a reactive transport model. The GA is capable of minimizing the difference between the measured and modeled breakthrough curves for both Cd and TBT. A comparison between GA and Monte-Carlo approaches shows that the GA performance is better than the Monte-Carlo, especially for a small number of evaluations of the cost function. The results of this study show that the use of GA to estimate the parameters of reactive transport models is promising. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]

Sorption dynamics in fixed-beds of inert core spherical adsorbents including axial dispersion and Langmuir isotherm

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 7 2009
M. Khosravi Koocheksarayi
Abstract The effects of axial dispersion and Langmuir isotherm on transient behavior of sorption and intraparticle diffusion in fixed-beds packed with monodisperse shell-type/inert core spherical sorbents are studied. The system of partial differential equations of the mathematical model is solved numerically using finite difference methods. Results are presented in the form of breakthrough curves for adsorption and desorption processes. Results reveal that the shape of the breakthrough curves is influenced by both hydrodynamic and kinetic factors. Hydrodynamic factor is governed by axial dispersion and is controlled by changes of Peclet number. Simulation results reveal that when linear adsorption isotherm is used, the effect of axial dispersion on breakthrough curves of the system is important for Peclet numbers smaller than 50, whereas, for Langmuir isotherm axial dispersion is considerable for Peclet numbers less than 80. In addition, effects of type of adsorption isotherms and size of adsorbents on breakthrough curves are investigated, and results are compared with existing reports in the pertinent literature. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]

Effect of chemical heterogeneity on adsorbed solute dispersion at column scale

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008
Safia Semra
Abstract Chemical heterogeneity seems to be responsible for spreading increase of adsorbed solute breakthrough curves. Adsorption in fixed beds assumes chemically homogeneous media. However, this is not always true, in particular when natural sands or mixed adsorbent filters are used in drinking water purification. Neglecting eventual effect of chemical heterogeneity may engender false modeling bases. So, considering homogeneous grain size distribution, the effect of chemical heterogeneity on global dispersion in porous media has been investigated experimentally in this article at column scale. Breakthroughs of adsorbed solute showed a visible effect of chemical heterogeneity on solute global dispersion increasing. The more heterogeneous the medium, the more spread the adsorbed solute breakthrough. Reduced variance showed a linear variation with the chemical heterogeneity scale at closely constant media global capacity. A pseudo-homogeneous model has been developed to simulate experimental data by increasing dispersion parameter. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008 [source]

Multicomponent mass transport model for the sorption of metal ions on bone char

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 9 2004
Danny C. K. Ko
Abstract The sorption of binary mixtures of copper/cadmium and copper/zinc ions onto bone char was studied in fixed beds. The effects of solution flow rate, initial dye concentration, and bone char particle size range were investigated. A mass transport model based on film-surface diffusion and the IAS model for the equilibrium relationship was used to develop theoretical fixed-bed breakthrough curves. The model incorporates the Sips isotherm for the first time in fixed-bed predictions, since this isotherm gives an excellent correlation of the experimental equilibrium data. The model was used to determine the optimum surface diffusivities as 7.37 × 10,10 and 2.73 × 10,9 cm2/s for copper and cadmium in the Cu/Cd system; and 1.61 × 10,9 and 2.43 × 10,9 cm2/s for copper and zinc in the Cu/Zn system. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 2130,2141, 2004 [source]

Colloid-Associated contaminant transport in porous media: 1.

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 10 2002
Experimental studies
Many studies have identified colloid-associated transport of contaminants as an important mechanism of contaminant migration through groundwater. It is a complex phenomenon in porous media involving several basic processes such as adsorption of contaminants, release and migration of colloidal fines, and entrapment of fines at the pore constrictions. The effects of these basic processes on the contaminant transport are studied. Column experiments are conducted to study the effects of the mobilization and migration of colloidal fines, kaolin on the transport of contaminant, and Ni2+ metal ion through the sand beds containing kaolin particles under both nonplugging and plugging conditions. As reported in literature, colloidal fines can facilitate the contaminant transport when they migrate with the flow. In the absence of migration, kaolin-sand beds retard Ni2+ transport in comparison to sand beds due to their higher adsorption capacity, but the sand-kaolin composite bed acts like an inefficient adsorption column with percentage saturation (which is in general below 25%). It is interesting to note that under plugging conditions, which can be induced by using a lower bead size to particle-size ratio, the breakthrough curves are more flattened and delayed at a higher kaolin content of the bed. [source]