Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING-ASCE
Volume 128, Issue 1, Pages 51-59Publisher
ASCE-AMER SOC CIVIL ENGINEERS
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(2002)128:1(51)
Keywords
hydrodynamics; sand; biofilm; porous media; hydraulic conductivity
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Biological activity in zones of chemical contamination changes the pore characteristics that control the flow of water and transport of dissolved chemicals in soils. To further the understanding of these processes, column experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of biomass growth on decane or naphthalene dissolved in simulated groundwater on the hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity of sand. The effect of grain size, groundwater flowrate, and nitrogen limitation were investigated. Given the low carbon loading resulting from the solubility of decane and naphthalene, sparse and discontinuous biomass growth reduced the hydraulic conductivity of the sand by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude after 35 to 63 days. This biogrowth initially increased dispersivity of the sand, but after longer periods of growth dispersivity, decreased to stable values near that of the clean sand. The results indicate that biogrowth can have significant effects in natural systems with low carbon loading and nitrogen availability, and should be taken into account when using models to predict contaminant transport in the field.
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