Activated carbon (AC) and other black carbon amendments are currently being investigated as an in situ remediation technique for sediments contaminated by persistent organic pollutants. Understanding the mass transfer of pollutants from weaker binding sites on sediment particles, to stronger binding sites inside AC particles, is important for the evaluation of this strategy. We experimentally study this mass transfer comparing continuous mixing and a brief initial mixing period to incorporate AC to the system, followed by unmixed conditions in settled sediments. The reduction in total PAH concentration in the PE sampler was greater than 99% after 12 months AC contact for both conditions. A numerical model based on concepts used to simulate well-mixed AC-sediment slurries was further developed to describe the briefly-mixed system. This model can predict upper and lower limits for the expected remediation effectiveness for variable AC-sediment mixing regimes and different spatial distributions of the added sorbent material.

Modeling the mass transfer of hydrophobic organic pollutants in sediment after amendment with activated carbon

240th National Meeting (2010)

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