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Effect of Sulfolane Demixing and Sorption on its Migration Through Model Fractured and Porous Media

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Abstract

Sulfolane is an emerging contaminant, miscible in pure water. The correlation between mixing behavior and transport of sulfolane with sulfate and chloride salts is not fully understood. Sulfate salts (e.g., Na2SO4) decrease the solubility of sulfolane in water. Specifically, solutions with 30wt% sulfolane separated into bulk phases with 130 g/kg Na2SO4 (2.4 mol% Na2SO4 relative to the total mixture) and emulsions formed with lower concentrations of Na2SO4 (41 g/kg or 0.7 mol% Na2SO4 relative to the total mixture). This is not observed with chlorides at these same concentrations. Na2SO4 enhanced sulfolane sorption onto montmorillonite clay, with 0.2 g sulfolane sorbed/g clay at high Na2SO4 concentrations (40.7 g Na2SO4/kg solution). As a result, Na2SO4 delayed sulfolane migration in model clayey fractures, compared to pure water. Sulfolane and co-contaminants such as toluene reciprocally influence their miscibility in water. Sulfolane emulsified toluene in pure water, while Na2SO4 supressed emulsification. In turn, sulfolane partitioned in toluene, and Na2SO4 enhanced this behavior by decreasing sulfolane miscibility in water. In flow tests conducted with 0.7 mol% Na2SO4 and 30wt% sulfolane (relative to water), the sulfolane concentration at the outlet is lower than that at the inlet for up to 80% of the total eluted volume. Therefore, in model sandy aquifers, the vertical migration of sulfolane was delayed with Na2SO4 and toluene, which floated on water and was trapped in soil pores due to capillary forces. Chloride salts had a less significant effect on toluene solubility in water and on its migration through model porous media.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (provided through an NSERC Discovery grant, awarded to Dr. Erica Pensini, PIN 537871).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, (ON), N1G 2W1, Canada

    Bibiana Bartokova & Erica Pensini

  2. Food Science Department, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, (ON), N1G 2W1, Canada

    Alejandro G. Marangoni

  3. Biophysics Interdepartmental Group (BIG), University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, (ON), N1G 2W1, Canada

    Alejandro G. Marangoni & Erica Pensini

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  1. Bibiana Bartokova
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Correspondence to Erica Pensini.

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Bartokova, B., Marangoni, A.G. & Pensini, E. Effect of Sulfolane Demixing and Sorption on its Migration Through Model Fractured and Porous Media. Water Air Soil Pollut 235, 97 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-024-06916-w

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