Date of Award

Winter 12-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors College

Department

Civil Engineering

Second Advisor

Dr. Joyce W. O'Rourke

Third Advisor

Dr. Beverly Wade

Abstract

Research is currently being conducted to enhance the existing pump-and-treat remediation strategy at the Petro Processors, Incorporated site (PPI)-a petrochemical disposal site consisting of two locations in East Baton Rouge Parish (Louisiana). Monochlorobenzene, a biodegradation byproduct of hexaclorobenzene, is a toxic chemical prevalent at the site; the diffusivity of monochlorobenzene is being studied through desorption experiments. The objective of soil desorption experiments is to determine soil-water distribution or partition coefficients. Partitioning is the distribution of solutes between two phases such as solid phase and a liquid (aqueous) phase. The derivation of acceptable partition coefficients "are used in [models] to determine the fate and transport of the contaminants at the site..." in an effort to further phytoremediation studies [17]. Soil properties, such as bulk and particle density, are determined to describe the microenvironments of the contaminant. These properties relate the number of pores with the mean length a molecule of contaminant must migrate to reach the outer surface of a soil particle. The partition coefficient, the bulk density tell are MCB flux parameters. Flux describes the amount a contaminate migrates, in a given time, over the area in which the contaminant is exposed.

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