Kinetic Modeling for a Novel Permeable Reactive Biobarrier for In Situ Remediation of PAH-Contaminated Groundwater
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 5
Abstract
Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are an environmentally friendly and cost-effective in situ remediation technology that have been used to restore polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated groundwater. However, the understanding of removal mechanisms of the pollutant from groundwater remains a challenge due to the complex interactions between microbial evolution, organic carbon kinetics, and multiple chemical reactions. In this study, a one-dimensional reactive transport model was developed to study 450-day column experiments for removal of phenanthrene from groundwater using new PRB materials A (including wheat straw) and B (including coconut shell biochar). The modeling results provided a deeper understanding of the removal process for phenanthrene, and showed that Material B had a higher removal efficiency than Material A over 34 days. The removal efficiency of phenanthrene in both Materials A and B was close to 100% in the PRB system. This was because (1) Material B had a higher adsorption capacity for phenanthrene than Material A, and adsorption played an important role in the short term (e.g., 20 days), whereas biodegradation controlled longer-term removal processes; (2) the biomass in Column B was higher () than that in Column A; and (3) Column B had a higher microbial yield coefficient that could favor longer-term microbial growth and biodegradation activity. Material B might have greater potential than Material A for longer-term remediation performance. The simulated results generally were in agreement with the experimental results and support the development of field-scale pilot testing of these materials for groundwater remediation.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0800201 and 2018YFC1800806), the Environmental Protection Department of Jiangsu Province of China (Grant No. 2017001-1), and the Jiangsu Provincial Water Resources Department (Grant No. 2019064) for their financial support. Cuicui Liu was supported by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806190133).
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Received: Mar 31, 2020
Accepted: Jan 5, 2022
Published online: Feb 28, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 28, 2022
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