Transport of Nitrate and Chloride in Variably Saturated Porous Media
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 5
Abstract
Increasing concern for groundwater pollution with nitrate () has motivated the use of solute-transport studies to explore and predict the transport behavior of . The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of pore-water velocity on nonequilibrium solute-transport parameters in variably saturated homogeneous and layered soil columns. A second objective was to evaluate the effect of solute concentration on nonequilibrium solute-transport parameters in layered soil columns. The study was conducted in 10-cm long columns repacked with air-dried and sieved (Number 10 sieve) sand and loam soils. A 0.1 M calcium nitrate and calcium chloride [] solution was applied to the columns at suction to generate and breakthrough curves. The CXTFIT program was used to determine the two-region model parameters. Additional experiments were conducted with repacked layered soil columns downscaled from existing soil profile at New Mexico State University experimental station. Layered soil-column experiments were conducted for two solute concentrations of 0.05 and 0.1 M under near-water-saturated conditions. The dispersion coefficient (), volumetric mobile water content (), and retardation factor () for both anions increased with increasing pore-water velocity, but the mass-exchange coefficient () was inconsistent in both homogeneous and layered soil columns. Layered soil-column experiments conducted with a solute concentration of 0.1 M had greater values than those conducted with 0.05 M solution. The and exhibited similar transport behavior through homogeneous and layered soil columns under variably water-saturated conditions and displayed the potential of predicting movement from easily measured data.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank New Mexico State University Agricultural Experiment Station, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative, and Sandia University Research Partnership for the support.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 5 • May 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 8, 2013
Accepted: Dec 30, 2013
Published online: Feb 6, 2014
Published in print: May 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Jul 6, 2014
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