James E. Szecsody

Chromium Speciation and Mobility in a High Level Nuclear Waste Vadose Zone Plume

Radioactive core samples containing elevated concentrations of Cr from a high level nuclear waste plume in the Hanford vadose zone were studied to asses the future mobility of Cr. Cr(VI) is an important subsurface contaminant at the Hanford Site. The plume originated in 1969 by leakage of self-boiling supernate from a tank containing REDOX process waste. The supernate contained high concentrations of alkali (NaOH ≈ 5.25 mol/L), salt (NaNO3/NaNO2 >10 mol/L), aluminate [Al(OH)4− = 3.36 mol/L], Cr(VI) (0.413 mol/L), and 137Cs+ (6.51 × 10−5 mol/L). Water and acid extraction of the oxidized subsurface sediments indicated that a significant portion of the total Cr was associated with the solid phase. Mineralogic analyses, Cr valence speciation measurements by X-ray adsorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy, and small column leaching studies were performed to identify the chemical retardation mechanism and leachability of Cr. While X-ray diffraction detected little mineralogic change to the sediments from waste reaction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that mineral particles within 5 m of the point of tank failure were coated with secondary, sodium aluminosilicate precipitates. The density of these precipitates decreased with distance from the source (e.g., beyond 10 m). The XANES and column studies demonstrated the reduction of 29–75% of the total Cr to insoluble Cr(III), and the apparent precipitation of up to 43% of the Cr(VI) as an unidentified, non-leachable phase. Both Cr(VI) reduction and Cr(VI) precipitation were greater in sediments closer to the leak source where significant mineral alteration was noted by SEM. These and other observations imply that basic mineral hydrolysis driven by large concentrations of OH− in the waste stream liberated Fe(II) from the otherwise oxidizing sediments that served as a reductant for CrO42−. The coarse-textured Hanford sediments contain silt-sized mineral phases (biotite, clinochlore, magnetite, and ilmenite) that are sources of Fe(II). Other dissolution products (e.g., Ba2+) or Al(OH)4− present in the waste stream may have induced Cr(VI) precipitation as pH moderated through mineral reaction. The results demonstrate that a minimum of 42% of the total Cr inventory in all of the samples was immobilized as Cr(III) and Cr(VI) precipitates that are unlikely to dissolve and migrate to groundwater under the low recharge conditions of the Hanford vadose zone.

Rheological behavior of xanthan gum solution related to shear thinning fluid delivery for subsurface remediation

Xanthan gum solutions are shear thinning fluids which can be used as delivery media to improve the distribution of remedial amendments injected into heterogeneous subsurface environments. The rheological behavior of the shear thinning solution needs to be known to develop an appropriate design for field injection. In this study, the rheological properties of xanthan gum solutions were obtained under various chemical and environmental conditions relevant to delivery of remedial amendments to groundwater. Higher xanthan concentration raised the absolute solution viscosity and increased the degree of shear thinning. Addition of remedial amendments (e.g., phosphate, sodium lactate, ethyl lactate) caused the dynamic viscosity of xanthan solutions to decrease, but they maintained shear-thinning properties. Use of mono- and divalent salts (e.g., Na(+), Ca(2+)) to increase the solution ionic strength also decreased the dynamic viscosity of xanthan and the degree of shear thinning, although the effect reversed at high xanthan concentrations. A power law analysis showed that the consistency index is a linear function of the xanthan concentration. The degree of shear thinning, however, is best described using a logarithmic function. Mechanisms to describe the observed empiricism have been discussed. In the absence of sediments, xanthan solutions maintained their viscosity for months. However, the solutions lost their viscosity over a period of days to weeks when in contact with site sediment. Loss of viscosity is attributed to physical and biodegradation processes.

AN ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX REACTION NETWORKS IN GROUNDWATER MODELING

The complex chemistry describing the biogeochemical dynamics in the natural subsurface environments gives rise to heterogeneous reaction networks, the individual segments of which can feature a wide range of timescales. This paper presents a formulation of the mass balance equations for the batch chemistry and the transport of groundwater contaminants participating in such arbitrarily complex networks of reactions. We formulate the batch problem as an initial-value differential algebraic equation (DAE) system and compute its “index” so that the ease of solvability of the system is determined. We show that when the equilibrium reactions obey the law of mass action, the index of this initial-value DAE system is always unity (thus solvable with well-developed techniques) and that the system can be decoupled into a set of linearly implicit ordinary differential equations and a set of explicit algebraic equations. The formulations for the transport of these reaction networks can take advantage of their solvability properties under batch conditions. To avoid the error associated with time splitting fast reactions from transport, we present a split-kinetics approach where the fast equilibrium reactions are combined with transport equations while only the slower kinetic reactions are time split. These results are used to formulate and solve a simplified reaction network for the biogeochemical transformation of Co(II) ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the presence of iron-coated sediments.

Groundwater flow, multicomponent transport and biogeochemistry: development and application of a coupled process model

A research tool for modeling the reactive flow and transport of groundwater contaminants in multiple dimensions is presented. Arbitrarily complex coupled kinetic-equilibrium heterogeneous reaction networks, automatic code generation, transfer-function based solutions, parameter estimation, high-resolution methods for advection, and robust solvers for the mixed kinetic-equilibrium chemistry are some of the features of reactive flow and transport (RAFT) that make it a versatile research tool in the modeling of a wide variety of laboratory and field experiments. The treatment of reactions is quite general so that RAFT can be used to model biological, adsorption/desorption, complexation, and mineral dissolution/precipitation reactions among others. The integrated framework involving automated code generation and parameter estimation allows for the development, characterization, and evaluation of mechanistic process models. The model is described and used to solve a problem in competitive adsorption that illustrates some of these features. The model is also used to study the development of an in situ Fe(II)-zone by encouraging the growth of an iron-reducing bacterium with lactate as the electron donor. Such redox barriers are effective in sequestering groundwater contaminants such as chromate and TCE.

Use of the generalized integral transform method for solving equations of solute transport in porous media

Abstract The generalized integral transform technique (GITT) is applied to solve the one-dimensional advection–dispersion equation (ADE) in heterogeneous porous media coupled with either linear or nonlinear sorption and decay. When both sorption and decay are linear, analytical solutions are obtained using the GITT for one-dimensional ADEs with spatially and temporally variable flow and dispersion coefficient and arbitrary initial and boundary conditions. When either sorption or decay is nonlinear the solutions to ADEs with the GITT are hybrid analytical–numerical. In both linear and nonlinear cases, the forward and inverse integral transforms for the problems described in the paper are apparent and straightforward. Some illustrative examples with linear sorption and decay are presented to demonstrate the application and check the accuracy of the derived analytical solutions. The derived hybrid analytical–numerical solutions are checked against a numerical approach and demonstratively applied to a nonlinear transport example, which simulates a simplified system of iron oxide bioreduction with nonlinear sorption and nonlinear reaction kinetics.

Enhanced remedial amendment delivery to subsurface using shear thinning fluid and aqueous foam

A major issue with in situ subsurface remediation is the ability to achieve an even spatial distribution of remedial amendments to the contamination zones in an aquifer or vadose zone. Amendment delivery to the aquifer using shear thinning fluid and to the vadose zone using aqueous foam has the potential to enhance the distribution. 2-D saturated flow cell experiments were conducted to evaluate the enhanced fluid sweeping over heterogeneous system, improved contaminant removal, and extended amendment presence in low-permeability zones achieved by shear thinning fluid delivery. Unsaturated column and flow cell experiments were conducted to investigate the improvement on contaminant mobilization mitigation, amendment distribution, and lateral delivery implemented by foam delivery. It was demonstrated that the shear thinning fluid injection enhanced the fluid sweeping and increased the delivery of remedial amendment into low-perm zones. The presence of amendment distributed by the shear thinning fluid in the low-permeability zones was increased. Foam delivery was shown to mitigate the mobilization of highly mobile contaminant from sediments. It also achieved more uniform amendment distribution in a heterogeneous unsaturated system, and demonstrated remarkable increasing in lateral distribution of the injected liquid compared to direct liquid injection.

Transport and biodegradation of quinoline in horizontally stratified porous media

Abstract An experimental study of the movement and biodegradation of quinoline was conducted in a saturated 2-layer system (1 m long) to identify processes that may result in increased microbial growth at hydraulic layer interfaces. The system contained two layers of contrasting hydraulic conductivity (1:12) and flow was parallel to layers. Tracer breakthrough, used to quantify interlayer mass transfer, showed that the transverse dispersivity was 0.3 cm near the interface and 0.036 cm within the low-conductivity (low-K) layer. Interlayer mass transfer resulted in arrival of substrate (quinoline) and oxygen 10s to 100s of hours sooner in the low-K layer near the interface compared to other locations within the low-K layer where substrates arrived via only advection. Early arrival of substrates near the interface resulted in biodegradation of quinoline for a longer period than within layers, yielding increased growth in a 1- to 3-cm-thick zone, as measyred by plate counts. Because biodegradation was oxygen limited in this system, microbial growth at all locations was small [log(maximum increase) ⩽ 1.0] and measured porous-medium hydraulic properties (dispersion, hydraulic gradient) were not affected by the biomass production. Although the thickness of the effected interface zone was small in this system, the effect on the overall transport of quinoline was significant; 19% of the growth (and corresponding degradation of substrates) in the low-K layer was in the relatively small interface zone. The effect of microbial biomass production at interfaces on overall solute movement is likely to be maximized in environments that have a high density of hydraulic or geochemical interfaces, particularly in settings where the interfaces serve as mixing zones between nutrient-limited waters.

Feasibility of In Situ Redox Manipulation of Subsurface Sediments for RDX Remediation at Pantex

This laboratory study was conducted to assess RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5 triazine) abiotic degradation by chemically reduced sediments and other geochemical aspects of the application of this technology to remediation of RDX contamination in groundwater at the U.S. DOE Pantex facility...

Interim Report: 100-NR-2 Apatite Treatability Test: Low Concentration Calcium Citrate-Phosphate Solution Injection for In Situ Strontium-90 Immobilization

Following an evaluation of potential Sr-90 treatment technologies and their applicability under 100-NR-2 hydrogeologic conditions, U.S. Department of Energy, Fluor Hanford, Inc., Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Washington Department of Ecology agreed that the long-term strategy for groundwater remediation at 100-N Area will include apatite sequestration as the primary treatment, followed by a secondary treatment if necessary (most likely phytoremediation). Since then, the agencies have worked together to agree on which apatite sequestration technology has the greatest chance of reducing Sr-90 flux to the river at a reasonable cost. In July 2005, aqueous injection, (i.e., the introduction of apatite-forming chemicals into the subsurface) was endorsed as the interim remedy and selected for field testing. Studies are in progress to assess the efficacy of in situ apatite formation by aqueous solution injection to address both the vadose zone and the shallow aquifer along the 300 ft of shoreline where Sr-90 concentrations are highest. This report describes the field testing of the shallow aquifer treatment.

In Situ Redox Manipulation of Subsurface Sediments from Fort Lewis, Washington: Iron Reduction and TCE Dechlorination Mechanisms

The feasibility of chemically treating sediments from the Ft. Lewis, Washington, Logistics Center to develop a permeable barrier for dechlorination of TCE was investigated in a series of laboratory experiments.