Prabhakar Sharma

Detachment of colloids from a solid surface by a moving air-water interface.

Colloid attachment to liquid-gas interfaces is an important process used in industrial applications to separate suspended colloids from the fluid phase. Moving gas bubbles can also be used to remove colloidal dust from surfaces. Similarly, moving liquid-gas interfaces lead to colloid mobilization in the natural subsurface environment, such as in soils and sediments. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of moving air-water interfaces on the detachment of colloids deposited on an air-dried glass surface, as a function of colloidal properties and interface velocity. We selected four types of polystyrene colloids (positive and negative surface charge, hydrophilic and hydrophobic). The colloids were deposited on clean microscope glass slides using a flow-through deposition chamber. Air-water interfaces were passed over the colloid-deposited glass slides, and we varied the number of passages and the interface velocity. The amounts of colloids deposited on the glass slides were visualized using confocal laser scanning microscopy and quantified by image analysis. Our results showed that colloids attached under unfavorable conditions were removed in significantly greater amounts than those attached under favorable conditions. Hydrophobic colloids were detached more than hydrophilic colloids. The effect of the air-water interface on colloid removal was most pronounced for the first two passages of the air-water interface. Subsequent passages of air-water interfaces over the colloid-deposited glass slides did not cause significant additional colloid removal. Increasing interface velocity led to decreased colloid removal. The force balances, calculated from theory, supported the experimental findings, and highlight the dominance of detachment forces (surface tension forces) over the attachment forces (DLVO forces).

Characterization of nZVI Mobility in a Field Scale Test

Nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) particles were injected into a contaminated sandy subsurface area in Sarnia, Ontario. The nZVI was synthesized on site, creating a slurry of 1 g/L nanoparticles using the chemical precipitation method with sodium borohydride (NaBH4) as the reductant in the presence of 0.8% wt. sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) polymer to form a stable suspension. Individual nZVI particles formed during synthesis had a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) quantified particle size of 86.0 nm and dynamic light scattering (DLS) quantified hydrodynamic diameter for the CMC and nZVI of 624.8 nm. The nZVI was delivered to the subsurface via gravity injection. Peak normalized total Fe breakthrough of 71% was observed 1m from the injection well and remained above 50% for the 24 h injection period. Samples collected from a monitoring well 1 m from the injection contained nanoparticles with TEM-measured particle diameter of 80.2 nm and hydrodynamic diameter of 562.9 nm. No morphological changes were discernible between the injected nanoparticles and nanoparticles recovered from the monitoring well. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to confirm the elemental composition of the iron nanoparticles sampled from the downstream monitoring well, verifying the successful transport of nZVI particles. This study suggests that CMC stabilized nZVI can be transported at least 1 m to the contaminated source zone at significant Fe(0) concentrations for reaction with target contaminants.

Gas Dispersion and Immobile Gas Content in Granular Porous Media: Effect of Particle Size Nonuniformity

Gas dispersion is an important process often controlling gas transport in porous media. At present, however, relatively little is known about the relationship between gas dispersion and porous media physical properties. In this study, gas dispersion and mobile gas content in porous media were measured as a function of medium average particle diameter, particle size range, and pore gas velocity. A set of natural granular media consisting of sand and gravel with uniform particle size distributions covering average particle diameters from 0.5 to 14 mm was used. Clean sand and gravel were used to obtain media with specific particle size distributions via mechanical sieving. Gas dispersion and mobile gas content were measured by column tracer experiments using atmospheric air and nitrogen as tracer gases. Gas dispersion coefficients, gas dispersivities, and mobile gas contents were determined by fitting the advection-dispersion equation to the measured gas breakthrough curves. The results showed that gas dispersivity decreased with increasing mean particle diameter and increased with increasing particle size range (width of particle size distribution). Thus, the largest dispersivities were observed for media with a small mean particle diameter and a wide particle size distribution. A model concept for predicting gas dispersivity from mean particle diameter and particle size range was proposed. The mobile gas content increased with increasing pore gas velocity but was independent of either particle size range or mean particle diameter.

Apparent porous media gas dispersion in response to rapid pressure fluctuations

Abstract The impact of rapid pressure fluctuations (frequency >0.02 min−1) on gas transport in two filter sands with different gas permeability (kg) was investigated. Pressure fluctuation–induced gas transport characterized as a dispersion process governed by a pressure fluctuation–induced dispersion coefficient (Dp) was measured using a column containing the sand, connected to a membrane pump for generating pressure fluctuations. Measurements of Dp in both sands were carried out for different combinations of pressure-fluctuation amplitude (A) and frequency (f). To assess if Dp is affected by the presence of a background steady gas flux in addition to the gas movement induced by the pressure fluctuations, Dp measurements were carried out for different constant pore gas velocities (u). Measurements of Dp corresponding to a total of 102 combinations of u, A, f, and kg were carried out. The results showed that the value of Dp increases with increasing A, f, and kg but is independent of u. Relations between Dp and A, f, and kg were generally strong.

Gas Dispersion and Immobile Gas Volume in Solid and Porous Particle Biofilter Materials at Low Air Flow Velocities

Abstract Gas-phase dispersion in granular biofilter materials with a wide range of particle sizes was investigated using atmospheric air and nitrogen as tracer gases. Two types of materials were used: (1) light extended clay aggregates (LECA), consisting of highly porous particles, and (2) gravel, consisting of solid particles. LECA is a commercial material that is used for insulation, as a soil conditioner, and as a carrier material in biofilters for air cleaning. These two materials were selected to have approximately the same particle shape. Column gas transport experiments were conducted for both materials using different mean particle diameters, different particle size ranges, and different gas flow velocities. Measured breakthrough curves were modeled using the advection-dispersion equation modified for mass transfer between mobile and immobile gas phases. The results showed that gas dispersivity increased with increasing mean particle diameter for LECA but was independent of mean particle diameter for gravel. Gas dispersivity also increased with increasing particle size range for both media. Dispersivities in LECA were generally higher than for gravel. The mobile gas content in both materials increased with increasing gas flow velocity but it did not show any strong dependency on mean particle diameter or particle size range. The relative fraction of mobile gas compared with total porosity was highest for gravel and lowest for LECA likely because of its high internal porosity.

Gas phase dispersion in compost as a function of different water contents and air flow rates

Gas phase dispersion in a natural porous medium (yard waste compost) was investigated as a function of gas flow velocity and compost volumetric water content using oxygen and nitrogen as tracer gases. The compost was chosen because it has a very wide water content range and because it represents a wide range of porous media, including soils and biofilter media. Column breakthrough curves for oxygen and nitrogen were measured at relatively low pore gas velocities, corresponding to those observed in for instance soil vapor extraction systems or biofilters for air cleaning at biogas plants or composting facilities. Total gas mechanical dispersion-molecular diffusion coefficients were fitted from the breakthrough curves using a one-dimensional numerical solution to the advection-dispersion equation and used to determine gas dispersivities at different volumetric gas contents. The results showed that gas mechanical dispersion dominated over molecular diffusion with mechanical dispersion for all water contents and pore gas velocities investigated. Importance of mechanical dispersion increased with increasing pore gas velocity and compost water content. The results further showed that gas dispersivity was relatively constant at high values of compost gas-filled porosity but increased with decreasing gas-filled porosity at lower values of gas-filled porosity. Results finally showed that measurement uncertainty in gas dispersivity is generally highest at low values of pore gas velocity.

Gaseous Oxygen Uptake in Porous Media at Different Moisture Contents and Airflow Velocities

Abstract The presence and distribution of water in the pore space is a critical factor for flow and transport of gases through unsaturated porous media. The water content also affects the biological activity necessary for treatment of polluted gas streams in biofilters. In this research, microbial activity and quantity of inactive volume in a porous medium as a function of moisture content and gas flow rate were investigated. Yard waste compost was used as a test medium, and oxygen uptake rate measurements were used to quantify microbial activity and effective active compost volume using batch and column flow-through systems. Compost water contents were varied from air-dry to field capacity and gas flows ranged from 0.2 to 2 L · min-1. The results showed that overall microbial activity and the relative fraction of active compost medium volume increased with airflow velocity for all levels of water content up to a certain flow rate above which the oxygen uptake rate assumed a constant value independent of gas flow. The actual value of the maximum oxygen uptake rate was controlled by the water content. The oxygen uptake rate also increased with increasing water content and reached a maximum between 42 and 48% volumetric water content, above which it decreased, again likely because of formation of inactive zones in the compost medium. Overall, maximum possible oxygen uptake rate as a function of gas flow rate across all water contents and gas flows could be approximated by a linear expression. The relative fraction of active volume also increased with gas flow rate and reached approximately 80% for the highest gas flows used.

Transport of surface-modified carbon nanotubes through a soil column.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely manufactured nanoparticles, which are being utilized in a number of consumer products, such as sporting goods, electronics and biomedical applications. Due to their accelerating production and use, CNTs constitute a potential environmental risk if they are released to soil and groundwater systems. It is therefore essential to improve the current understanding of environmental fate and transport of CNTs. The transport and retention of CNTs in both natural and artificial media have been reported in literature, but the findings widely vary and are thus not conclusive. There are a number of physical and chemical parameters responsible for variation in retention and transport. In this study, a complete procedure of selected multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is presented starting from their surface modification to a complete set of laboratory column experiments at critical physical and chemical scenarios. Results indicate that the stability of the commercially available MWCNTs are critical with their attached surface functional group which can also influence the transport and retention of MWCNT through the surrounding medium.

Effect of physicochemical factors on transport and retention of graphene oxide in saturated media

Fate and transport of graphene oxide (GO) have received much attention recently with the increase of GO applications. This study investigated the effect of salt concentration on the transport and retention behavior of GO particles in heterogeneous saturated porous media. Transport experiments were conducted in NaCl solutions with three concentrations (1, 20, and 50 mM) using six structurally packed columns (two homogeneous and four heterogeneous) which were made of fine and coarse grains. The results showed that GO particles had high mobility in all the homogeneous and heterogeneous columns when solution ionic strength (IS) was low. When IS was high, GO particles showed distinct transport ability in six structurally heterogeneous porous media. In homogeneous columns, decreasing ionic strength and increasing grain size increased the mobility of GO. For the column containing coarse-grained channel, the preferential flow path resulted in an early breakthrough of GO, and further larger contact area between coarse and fine grains caused a lower breakthrough peak and a stronger tailing at different IS. In the layered column, there was significant GO retention at coarse-fine grain interface where water flowed from coarse grain to fine grain. Our results indicated that the fate and transport of GO particles in the natural heterogeneous porous media was highly related to the coupled effect of medium structure and salt solution concentration.