A new experimental method to determine the sorption isotherm of a liquid in a porous medium.
Sorption from the vapor phase is an important factor controlling the transport of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the vadose zone. Therefore, an accurate description of sorption behavior is essential to predict the ultimate fate of contaminants. Several measurement techniques are available in the case of water, however, when dealing with VOCs, the determination of sorption characteristics generally relies on gas chromatography. To avoid some drawbacks associated with this technology, we propose a new method to determine the sorption isotherm of any liquid compounds adsorbed in a soil. This method is based on standard and costless transducers (gas pressure, temperature) leading to a simple and transportable experimental device. A numerical estimation underlines the good accuracy and this technique is validated on two examples. Finally, this method is applied to determine the sorption isotherm of three liquid compounds (water, heptane, and trichloroethylene) in a clayey soil.
Ouoba
Samuel
S
Laboratoire de Mecanique et Genie Civil, CNRS, Universite Montpellier 2, Place Eugene Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France.
Cherblanc
Fabien
F
Cousin
Bruno
B
Bénet
Jean-Claude
JC
D000042:Absorption; D000327:Adsorption; D006536:Heptanes / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D013672:Technology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D014241:Trichloroethylene / Q000737:chemistry; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
D006536:Heptanes; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D014867:Water; D014241:Trichloroethylene