PNNL-13501 - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PNNL-13501 - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PNNL-13501 - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
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Interrelationships Between Processes Controlling Loading Level, Release Rate, and Biological<br />
Activity of Contaminated Porous Media<br />
Study Control Number: PN00061/1468<br />
Robert G. Riley, Christopher J. Thompson<br />
Hydrophobic organic contaminants are common sources of subsurface contamination at DOE and other federal sites. A<br />
better understanding of the magnitude and behavior of hydrophobic organic contaminants resistant fractions could<br />
1) enhance the rationale for using more cost-effective, passive cleanup options (e.g., natural attenuation) at DOE sites,<br />
and 2) lead to improved approaches for evaluating soil/sediment organic contaminant analysis methods. In this project,<br />
circulating supercritical carbon dioxide is evaluated as a laboratory method for rapidly aging soils/sediments and<br />
investigating the behavior of hydrophobic organic contaminants resistant fractions.<br />
Project Description<br />
The objective of this project was to evaluate the potential<br />
for supercritical fluid technology to simulate on a<br />
laboratory time scale (hours to days) the natural aging<br />
process (the interaction of contaminants with soils and<br />
sediments over several years). Phenanthrene (a<br />
hydrophobic organic contaminant) was loaded onto<br />
Hanford formation soil using supercritical carbon dioxide.<br />
Aqueous desorption of phenanthrene from the loaded soil<br />
in laboratory columns showed release behavior consistent<br />
with what would be expected for hydrophobic organic<br />
contaminants releasing from a naturally aged soil or<br />
sediment. Of particular interest was the demonstration of<br />
the presence of a phenanthrene resistant fraction<br />
controlled by adsorption and diffusion processes in the<br />
organic carbon fraction of the soil. The results of this<br />
project suggest that application of the supercritical fluid<br />
technology to a broader range of soils and sediment types<br />
(such as those found across the DOE complex) would be<br />
possible with improved system robustness and parameter<br />
modification.<br />
Introduction<br />
A hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fraction is<br />
defined as that fraction of hydrophobic organic<br />
contaminants that is slowly released to an aqueous phase<br />
(groundwater). Hydrophobic organic contaminant<br />
resistant fractions are generated over years (decades) of<br />
interaction of contaminants with soils and sediments<br />
under unsaturated and saturated conditions. Hydrophobic<br />
organic contaminants that have been in contact with soils,<br />
sediments, and aquifer solids for many years typically<br />
exhibit very slow releases to the environment (such as<br />
vadose zone unsaturated moisture or groundwater) as a<br />
result of the presence of resistant fractions within these<br />
230 FY 2000 <strong>Laboratory</strong> Directed Research and Development Annual Report<br />
materials. Current scientific thinking suggests that<br />
organic matter diffusion is a major mechanism<br />
responsible for the presence of resistant fractions resulting<br />
in slow release of contaminants from geosorbents that<br />
contain organic carbon. This raises questions about the<br />
influence of resistant fractions on the availability of<br />
hydrophobic organic contaminants to the environment and<br />
how this relates to soil and sediment quality criteria for<br />
hydrophobic organic contaminants and remediation<br />
cleanup goals. As a consequence of sorption to soils or<br />
sediments and subsequent slow release, the resistant<br />
fractions of hydrophobic organic contaminants may be<br />
significantly less leachable by water and less toxic as<br />
measured by simple tests. Fate, transport, and risk<br />
assessment models all contain terms for desorption;<br />
therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of<br />
hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fractions is<br />
crucial to their success. Ignoring the magnitude of a<br />
hydrophobic organic contaminant resistant fraction and its<br />
influence on slow kinetics can lead to an underestimation<br />
of the true extent of adsorption, false predictions about the<br />
mobility and bioavailability of contaminants, and perhaps<br />
the wrong choice of cleanup technology (Pignatello and<br />
Xing 1996; Luthy et al. 1997).<br />
Classes of hydrophobic organic contaminants most<br />
commonly found in DOE site soils and sediments subject<br />
to cleanup include fuel hydrocarbons, chlorinated<br />
hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls (Riley and<br />
Zachara 1992). Understanding the magnitude and<br />
behavior of resistant fractions could lead to the<br />
development of more realistic release criteria that reduce<br />
the costs of remediation of sites contaminated with these<br />
chemicals. Higher concentrations of contamination may<br />
be allowed to remain in soils and sediments in meeting<br />
site closure requirements. Of particular interest is the<br />
application of natural attenuation as a remediation