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Rahman et al. 2004
Rahman, M.M., Liedl, R. and Grathwohl, P. (2004). Sorption kinetics during macropore transport of organic contaminants in soils: Laboratory experiments and analytical modeling. Water Resources Research 40: doi: 10.1029/2002WR001946. issn: 0043-1397.

Preferential solute transport coupled with diffusion into the surrounding matrix region has been examined in a silty loam soil by conducting macropore column experiments for various hydrophobic organic compounds (phenanthrene, 1, 2-DCB, TCE, carbofuran) representing the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chlorobenzenes, chlorinated solvents, and pesticides. A new and ready-to-use analytical solution was developed for this setting to model the breakthrough curves. The model accounts for advection in the macropore region, diffusion into the matrix region, and linear sorption in both regions. In this setting, hydrodynamic dispersion is negligible as proved by a comparison of an advection-dispersion model of finite pulse input. Conservative tracer experiments were predicted very well with independently determined transport parameters except for the tortuosity factor, which was used as a fitting parameter for the pore diffusion coefficient in the matrix. In case of sorbing solutes the sorption coefficient (Kd) was used as additional fitting parameter. The fitted Kd was 65% smaller for less sorbing compounds, e.g., carbofuran, and 80% less for strongly sorbing compounds, e.g., phenanthrene compared to the independently determined Kd from batch experiments. This indicates that sorption equilibrium was not obtained completely during the matrix diffusion at the timescale of the macropore flow experiment.

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Abstract

Keywords
Hydrology, Instruments and techniques, Hydrology, Groundwater transport, Hydrology, Anthropogenic effects, macropore, contaminant transport, nonequilibrium, sorption, diffusion, analytical model
Journal
Water Resources Research
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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