Method for Measuring Air-Immiscible Liquid Partition Coefficients
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 1
Abstract
The principal objective of this work was to measure nonaqueous phase liquid-air partition coefficients for various gas tracer compounds. Known amounts of trichloroethene (TCE) and tracer, as neat compounds, were introduced into glass vials and allowed to equilibrate. The TCE and tracer concentration of the headspace was analyzed and the partition coefficient was calculated from a mass balance. The TCE-air partition coefficient, defined as the ratio of the concentration of the tracer in the vapor phase to its concentration in the TCE phase, for gas tracer compounds perfluorodimethylcyclobutane, perfluoromethylcyclopentane, perfluoromethylcyclohexane, dibromodifluoromethane, and dibromotetrafluoroethane were determined to be 22, 24, 53, 370, and 470 for temperatures of . Most of the variability follows from uncertainty with measurements of tracer vapor-phase concentrations, with overall relative percent differences ranging from 8.5 to 25%. This methodology produces results consistent with literature values obtained from column tests, with similar reproducibility.
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Acknowledgments
The writers thank the United States Environmental Protection Agency, The University of Arizona, and Tracer Research Corporation, especially Dr. Glenn Thompson and Mr. Lawrence W. Schenmeyer for their support in this project.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 1 • January 2006
Pages: 140 - 144
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 13, 2004
Accepted: Apr 12, 2005
Published online: Jan 1, 2006
Published in print: Jan 2006
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