title: Measuring air-water interfacial area for soils using the mass balance surfactant-tracer method.
abstract: There are several methods for conducting interfacial partitioning tracer tests to measure air-water interfacial area in porous media. One such approach is the mass balance surfactant tracer method. An advantage of the mass-balance method compared to other tracer-based methods is that a single test can produce multiple interfacial area measurements over a wide range of water saturations. The mass-balance method has been used to date only for glass beads or treated quartz sand. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness and implementability of the mass-balance method for application to more complex porous media. The results indicate that interfacial areas measured with the mass-balance method are consistent with values obtained with the miscible-displacement method. This includes results for a soil, for which solid-phase adsorption was a significant component of total tracer retention.
authors.affiliation: Soil, Water and Environmental Science Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, 429 Shantz Bldg., Tucson, AZ 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Juliana B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Araujo
authors.affiliation: Soil, Water and Environmental Science Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, 429 Shantz Bldg., Tucson, AZ 85721, United States.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mainhagu
authors.affiliation: Soil, Water and Environmental Science Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, 429 Shantz Bldg., Tucson, AZ 85721, United States; Hydrology and Water Resources Department, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Arizona, 429 Shantz Bldg., Tucson, AZ 85721, United States. Electronic address: Brusseau@email.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Brusseau
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000388:Air / Q000032:analysis*; D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D008823:Micelles; D016062:Porosity; D011791:Quartz; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D013500:Surface Tension; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001557:Benzenesulfonates; D008823:Micelles; D012987:Soil; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water; D011791:Quartz; C001114:dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid; D012822:Silicon Dioxide
keywords: Interface; Interfacial area; Partitioning tracer; Tracer test