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Coupled effect of flow velocity and structural heterogeneity on transport and release of kaolinite colloids in saturated porous media

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Abstract

Understanding the behavior and fate of clay colloids in water-saturated porous media is critical to assess its environmental impact and potential risk since clay is commonly a carrier of many contaminants. Column experiments with four-packing configurations were designed to understand the coupled effects of column structural heterogeneity and the flow velocity on the transport and fate of kaolinite colloids in the saturated porous media. The results showed that the structural heterogeneity could have facilitated the transport of kaolinite colloids in saturated porous media. For the columns with strong heterogeneity, the preferential flow paths led to an early breakthrough of kaolinite. Only few kaolinite colloids were released with slow flow rate; however, the released peak concentration and release percentage of kaolinite colloids had further increased with the high flow velocity. In the layered column, there was significant kaolinite’s retention at the interface where water passed from fine to coarse quartz sand. All results indicated that both flow rates and media characteristics played an important role in controlling kaolinite’s fate and transport in porous media. A thorough understanding of these processes had an important significance for pollution control in subsurface natural environment where heterogeneous soil and variation in flow pattern are usually common.

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Funding

We acknowledge the financial support provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (41771255, 41501232).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Land Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (North China), Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Meng Mao, Xiaoli Zheng, Chong Chen, Kang Zhao, Chaorui Yan & Jianying Shang

  2. School of Ecology and Environment Studies, Nalanda University, Nalanda, Rajgir, Bihar, India

    Prabhakar Sharma

Authors
  1. Meng Mao
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  2. Xiaoli Zheng
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  3. Chong Chen
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  4. Kang Zhao
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  5. Chaorui Yan
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  6. Prabhakar Sharma
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  7. Jianying Shang
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Correspondence to Prabhakar Sharma or Jianying Shang.

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Mao, M., Zheng, X., Chen, C. et al. Coupled effect of flow velocity and structural heterogeneity on transport and release of kaolinite colloids in saturated porous media. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 35065–35077 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09806-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09806-w

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