Study on the mechanism of transport of heavy metals in soil in western suburb of Beijing

Researchers are paying more and more attention to the adsorption and transport of heavy metals in soil. In this study, laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the characteristics of adsorption and transport of mercury in soils of different locations in the western suburb of Beijing. To characterize the adsorption mechanism of mercury in soil, adsorption isotherms were determined through a batch experiment. Soil column experiments were performed in saturated soil under steady-state flow at a specific water head. The breakthrough curves (BTC) for the tracer (bromine) and mercury were obtained after continuous input. Moreover, two solute transport models [convection-dispersion equation model (CDE) and two-site non-equilibrium model (TSN)] were used to simulate heavy metal movement in soil on a laboratory column scale. According to the simulating results, we explored which model is more adapted to simulate the movement of heavy metals in saturated soil in the western suburb of Beijing.