dc.contributor.author	Smartt, Helen Anne	en
dc.contributor.committeecochair	Novak, John T.	en
dc.contributor.committeecochair	Widdowson, Mark A.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Berry, Duane F.	en
dc.contributor.department	Civil Engineering	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-14T21:48:16Z	en
dc.date.adate	2002-11-14	en
dc.date.available	2014-03-14T21:48:16Z	en
dc.date.issued	2002-10-14	en
dc.date.rdate	2003-11-14	en
dc.date.sdate	2002-10-31	en
dc.description.abstract	Creosote, containing many high molecular weight hydrophobic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), is present in the subsurface environment at the Oneida Tie-Yard in Oneida, Tennessee. Phytoremediation using hybrid poplar trees was chosen as the remedial technology on-site. Since monitoring began, the contaminant plume has been shrinking consistently and evidence has shown that remediation is taking place. However, remediation may be rate-limited by the desorption and dissolution kinetics of the PAH's on-site. The objectives of this research are to: (1) estimate the desorption and dissolution rates of 10 PAH's found in the subsurface and (2) estimate the amount of each PAH and total mass of contaminant that is irreversibly sorbed to the soil. Three laboratory desorption and dissolution experiments were performed using contaminated soil samples from the Oneida Tie-Yard site. The first experiment was a batch desorption equilibrium experiment, the second was a batch desorption kinetics experiment, and the third was a soil column dissolution kinetics experiment. The target compounds in this study were: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, and benzo(b)fluoranthene. The resulting data for the desorption equilibrium experiment revealed that rates of equilibrium were truly not instantaneous in the systems studied. However, because approximately 76% of PAH's desorbed by the first sampling event (3 days), an equilibrium isotherm was considered appropriate. Results showed that there is a sorbed reversible concentration that readily desorbs to the aqueous phase for each PAH. Additionally, it was determined that the percent removal of sorbed PAH's decreases with increasing molecular weight. Desorption curves based on experimental data were found to exhibit linear behavior over large variations in aqueous concentration, but showed exponential behavior as concentrations approached zero. Freundlich sorption equilibrium isotherms for the 10 monitored PAH's on-site were generally found to have N coefficient values over 1, especially over large variations in solution phase concentration, indicating a non-uniform sorbent. Dissolution of resistant PAH's under field-like conditions was determined to occur over long periods of time. Dissolution rates calculated from experimental data were shown to generally decrease with increasing molecular weight. Overall, desorption and dissolution kinetics of PAH's were shown to be rate-limiting factors to remediation at the Oneida Tie-Yard.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Science	en
dc.identifier.other	etd-10312002-174650	en
dc.identifier.sourceurl	http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-10312002-174650/	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/45332	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.relation.haspart	AppendixB.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	AppendixC.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	AppendixA.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	ThesisBody.pdf	en
dc.relation.haspart	Vita.pdf	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	groundwater contamination	en
dc.subject	bioavailability	en
dc.subject	non-aqueous phase liquid	en
dc.subject	recalcitrant compound	en
dc.subject	mass-transfer	en
dc.title	Effects of the Desorption and Dissolution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Phytoremediation at a Creosote-Contaminated Site	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Civil Engineering	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science	en

Effects of the Desorption and Dissolution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Phytoremediation at a Creosote-Contaminated Site

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