An Experimental Methodology for Monitoring Contaminant Transport Through Geotechnical Centrifuge Models

In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight an experimental methodology for monitoring contaminant transport through locally available silty soil and commercially available clay in geotechnical centrifuge models, for different compaction states. Use of multiple depth sensors to determine depth distribution of sodium chloride in the soil column has been detailed. The obtained results have been compared with argentometric method. To validate the centrifuge modelling, modelling of models has been used. The test setup developed can simulate contaminant transport mechanisms through the soil mass, which is approximately 10 m deep, over a period of 600 days. R _e and P _e are found to be N times higher in the centrifuge models. These numbers are found to be several orders less than unity. This indicates that laminar flow prevails and the dominating Cl⁻ transport mechanism in centrifuge is diffusion. The study also highlights the fact that the geotechnical centrifuge modelling can be used as a viable alternative to field scale experimentation.     

Assessment of phenol infiltration resilience in soil media by HYDRUS-1D transport model for a waste discharge site

The movement of contaminants through soil imparts a variety of geo-environmental problem inclusive of lithospheric pollution. Near-surface aquifers are often vulnerable to contamination from surface source if overlying soil possesses poor resilience or contaminant attenuation capacity. The prediction of contaminant transport through soil is urged to protect groundwater from sources of pollutants. Using field simulation through column experiments and mathematical modeling like HYDRUS-1D, assessment of soil resilience and movement of contaminants through the subsurface to reach aquifers can be predicted. An outfall site of effluents of a coke oven plant comprising of alarming concentration of phenol (4–12.2 mg/L) have been considered for studying groundwater condition and quality, in situ soil characterization, and effluent characterization. Hydrogeological feature suggests the presence of near-surface aquifers at the effluent discharge site. Analysis of groundwater of nearby locality reveals the phenol concentration (0.11–0.75 mg/L) exceeded the prescribed limit of WHO specification (0.002 mg/L). The in situ soil, used in column experiment, possess higher saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _S ?=?5.25?×?10^?4 cm/s). The soil containing 47 % silt, 11 % clay, and 1.54 % organic carbon content was found to be a poor absorber of phenol (24 mg/kg). The linear phenol adsorption isotherm model showed the best fit (R ²?=?0.977, RMSE?=?1.057) to the test results. Column experiments revealed that the phenol removal percent and the length of the mass transfer zone increased with increasing bed heights. The overall phenol adsorption efficiency was found to be 42–49 %. Breakthrough curves (BTCs) predicted by HYDRUS-1D model appears to be close fitting with the BTCs derived from the column experiments. The phenol BTC predicted by the HYDRUS-1D model for 1.2 m depth subsurface soil, i.e., up to the depth of groundwater in the study area, showed that the exhaustion point was reached within 12 days of elapsed time. This clearly demonstrated poor attenuation capacity of the soil to retard migration of phenol to the groundwater from the surface outfall site. Suitable liner, based on these data, may be designed to inhibit subsurface transport of phenol and thereby to protect precious groundwater from contamination.     

Rate-Limited Desorption of Volatile Organic Compounds from Soils and Implications for the Remediation of a Louisiana Superfund Site

The rates of desorption of trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,3-dichlorobenzene (DCB) from a silty soil at a Superfund site and a silty-clayey soil from an uncontaminated bottomland hardwoodswamp in Baton Rouge, Louisiana were studied in laboratory batchsystems. The effect of the age of soil contamination was studiedusing a laboratory-spiked soil incubated for 3 days, 3 months and5 months. An empirical non-linear model was used to describe thebi-phasic nature of desorption with one fraction (labile) beingreleased in relatively short periods of time (typically 24–100 hr) and a second fraction (non-labile or irreversible) beingresistant to desorption. The non-linear model parameters, viz.,the fraction of the chemical released rapidly (F), and the firstorder desorption rate coefficients, k ₁ and k ₂respectively for the labile and slowly released fractions weredetermined by fitting the experimental data to the model. Thedata fit the model well as indicated by the high r ² values.The estimate of k ₁ was good. However, the values of k ₂are known with less precision due to the limited duration of theexperiment and number of samples taken at long times. In addition, desorption kinetics of 3 and 5-month old contaminatedsoils showed that progressively less amount of contaminant was available for facile desorption (lower F) compared to freshly contaminated soil. The labile fraction had desorption rate constants of the order of 10^-1 h^-1, whereas the slowlyreleased fraction had rate constants of the order of 10^-4 h^-1 in accord with literature reported values for a varietyof other compounds and soils. Possible mechanisms describing these rates and implications for the site clean up are discussed.     

Characterization of hydrocarbon contaminated areas by multivariate statistical analysis: Case studies

Analysis of soil gases is a relatively rapid and inexpensive method to delineate and measure hydrocarbon contamination in the subsurface caused by diesel or gasoline. Techniques originally developed for petroleum exploration have been adapted to tracking hydrocarbons which have leaked or spilled at or below the earth's surface.Discriminant analysis (a multivariate statistical technique) is used to classify soil gas samples of C₁ to C₇ hydrocarbons as biogenic (natural soil gases) or thermogenic (contaminant hydrocarbons). Map plots of C₁ to C₇ total interstitial hydrocarbons, C₂ to C₇ interstitial hydrocarbons, and C₁/C _n rations are used to further delineate and document the extent and migration of contamination.Three case studies of the technique are presented: each involves leakage of hydrocarbons from underground storage tanks. Soil gas analysis clearly defines the spread of contamination and can serve as the basis for the correct placement of monitoring wells. The method proved to be accurate, rapid, and cost-effective; it therefore has potential for widespread application to the identification of soil and groundwater contaminated by hydrocarbons.     

Temporal moments analysis of preferential solute transport in soils

Temporal moments analysis of solute breakthrough curves is used to investigate the preferential leaching of chloride, nitrate and phosphate through an Australian soil. Recent studies have shown that current models and methods do not adequately describe the leaching of nutrients through soil, often underestimating the risk of groundwater contamination by surface-applied chemicals, and overestimating the concentration of resident solutes. This inaccuracy results primarily from ignoring soil structure and non-equilibrium between soil constituents, water and solutes. Therefore simple models are required to accurately characterise solute transport in natural and agricultural soils under non-equilibrium conditions. A multiple sample percolation system, consisting of 25 individual collection wells was constructed to study the effects of localised soil heterogeneities on the transport of nutrients (NO₃ ^–, Cl^–, PO₄ ^{3 –}) in the vadose zone of an agricultural soil predominantly dominated by clay. Using data collected from the multiple sample percolation experiments, this paper compares and contrasts the performance of temporal moments analysis with two mathematical models for predicting solute transport, the advective-dispersion model with a reaction term (ADR) and a two-region preferential flow model (TRM) suitable for modelling preferential transport. The values for solute transport parameters predicted by temporal moments analysis were in excellent agreement with experimental data and results from ADR and TRM. It is concluded that temporal moments analysis when applied with other physical models such as the ADR and TRM, provide an excellent means of obtaining values for important solute transport parameters and gaining insight of preferential flow. These results have significant ramifications for modelling solute transport and predicting nutrient loadings.     

Experimental Methodology to Assess Contaminant Diffusion in Rock Mass

Monitoring changes in electrical conductivity (EC) of aqueous phase, due to contaminant diffusion through porous media, is one of the techniques followed by researchers to understand the migration mechanism. However, the contaminant diffusion in the rock mass is a slow process and hence detecting small changes in conductivity with the help of conventional laboratory conductivity meters is quite difficult. With this in view, an experimental methodology to monitor diffusion of contaminant(s) through the intact and fractured rock mass, with the help of a USDTS (Ultra-Sensitive Devices and Technical Services) conductivity meter, has been developed. Results have been validated with those obtained from the ion chromatograph (IC) technique and a good agreement has been noted. The study demonstrates usefulness of the proposed methodology for online monitoring of contaminant migration through the porous media.     

Adsorption and degradation of sulfosulfuron in soils

Adsorption of sulfosulfuron was studied in two soils (topsoil from Alfisol and Inceptisol). The adsorption of sulfosulfuron was greater in topsoil collected from Alfisol than in Inceptisol. The soil sorption coefficient K and the soil organic carbon sorption coefficient K _oc are the basic parameters used for describing the environmental fate of the herbicides. In topsoil the calculated K values from Alfisol was 4.43 and in topsoil from Inceptisol was 2.00. K _c values were 6.06 in topsoil from Alfisol and 3.33 in topsoil from Inceptisol. The K _oc values were 886.36 in topsoil from Alfisol and 770.26 in topsoil from Inceptisol. Field experimental plots with no previous history of sulfosulfuron were selected and studied the degradation of sulfosulfuron in the topsoil collected from Alfisol and Inceptisol. The half-life of sulfosulfuron in topsoil from Alfisol: T ₁− 3.97 days and T ₂− 4.54 days; topsoil from Inceptisol: T ₁ − 4.68 days and T ₂ − 5.52 days. The degradation of sulfosulfuron followed first-order kinetics. The persistence of sulfosulfuron was found relatively longer in the Inceptisol than in Alfisol. The combination of degradation data (t _1/2 – soil) and organic carbon based sorption (K _oc) data of herbicides have been used to assess the pesticide environmental impact in soils through Gustafson Ubiquity Score (GUS). The GUS values were found to be 0.69 in topsoil from Alfisol and 0.83 in Inceptisol.     

Soil heterogeneity effects on acid flushing of lead-contaminated soil

A compact model for evaluation of acid flushing of heavy-metal-contaminated soil in a small-scale on-site treatment plant is proposed. The model assumes that the soil was re-packed in a container after excavation resulting in a soil structure with heterogeneous and random physical and chemical properties. To evaluate the effects of heterogeneity on the efficiency of contaminant removal by acid flushing, a numerical analysis of lead transport in the heterogeneous soil medium was performed. The model examines cation exchange and surface complexation reactions involving three cations (Ca, Pb, and H) and one anion (Cl) in both dissolved and exchangeable forms, two Pb surface complexes (SOPbCl and SOPbOH), and one Cl surface complex (SOH₂Cl). The transport of these species during flushing with acid in a synthetically generated two-dimensional heterogeneous soil was simulated in the model. Results indicated that the flushing fluid preferentially followed pathways with large permeability. The heterogeneous cation exchange capacity (CEC) distribution and surface complexation sites had a significant effect on the transport of dissolved species. Because the CEC was set to a relatively low value, Pb was adsorbed mainly as surface complexes (SOPbCl and SOPbOH). Simulation results suggest that blocks of low hydraulic conductivity located in the upper part of the model domain greatly impede solute transport. Ponding conditions did not significantly affect the efficiency of decontamination. The model and its results are useful in the design of small-scale treatment plants for acid flushing.     

Higher Plants As Bioindicators Of Sulphur Dioxide Emissions In Urban Environments

The evaluation of certain vascular plants that grow in the city of Madrid as biomonitors of SO₂ air pollution in urban environments has been carried out. Total concentration of sulphur in leaves of the chosen higher plants as well as other parameters in close relation to this contaminant (visible injury symptoms, chlorophyll a- and b-content and peroxidase activity) have been determined in order to study the spatial distribution and temporal changes in SO₂ deposition. Results obtained show that coniferous species such as Pinus pinea, were more sensitive to SO₂ atmospheric concentration than leafy species as Quercux ilex subspecies ballota and, in the same way, bush species, such asPyracantha coccinea and Nerium oleander, were more sensitive than wooded species, such as Cedrus deodaraandPinus pinea, respectively. There is a higher accumulation of sulphur in vegetable species located near highways and dense traffic incidence roads and near areas with high density of population. The minimum values for accumulation of SO₂ were registered in winter and spring seasons (from January to April) due to the vegetative stop; while maximum values are obtained during the summer season (from June to September), due to the stoma opening. The highest increments in sulphur concentration, calculated as the difference between two consecutive months, are obtained in May and June for all considered species except forCedrus deodara and Pyracantha coccinea, both species have few seasonal changes during the whole year. Some species are more sensitive to natural washing than others, showing a decrease in sulphur concentration after rainfall periods.     

Aerosol characteristics and surface radiative forcing components during a dust outbreak in Gwangju, Republic of Korea

Atmospheric surface aerosol radiative forcing (SARF) ΔF, forcing efficiency ΔF_e and fractional forcing efficiency ΔFF_e evaluated from cloud-screened narrowband spectral and thermal-offset-corrected radiometric observations during the Asia dust outbreak episodes in Gwangju, Republic of Korea are reported in this study. Columnar aerosol optical properties (aerosol optical depth (AOD), τ _aλ, Angstrom exponent α, mass concentration of fine and coarse mode particles) were also reported for the station between January 2000 and May 2001 consisting of 211cloud-free days. Results indicate that majority of the AOD were within the range 0.25–0.45 while some high aerosol events in which AODs ≥ 0.6 were observed during the severe dust episodes. For example, AOD increases from annual average value of 0.34 ± 0.13 at 501 nm to values >0.60 during the major dust events of March 27–30 and April 7–9, 2000, respectively. The α _{501–870 nm} which is often used as a qualitative indicator of aerosol particle size had values ranging from 0.01 to 1.77. The diurnal forcing efficiency ΔDF_e at Gwangju was estimated to be −81.10 ± 5.14 W m ⁻²/τ _{501 nm} and −47.09 ± 2.20 W m ⁻²/τ _{501 nm} for the total solar broadband and visible band pass, respectively while the fractional diurnal forcing efficiency ΔFDF_e were −15.8 ± 0.64%/τ _{501 nm} and −22.87 ± 1.13%/τ _{501 nm} for the same band passes. Analyses of the 5-day air-mass back trajectories were further developed for Gwangju in order to classify the air-mass and types of aerosol reaching the site during the Asia dust episodes.     

Continuous ‘Passive’ flow-proportional monitoring of drainage using a new modified Sutro weir (MSW) unit

In view of their crucial role in water and solute transport, enhanced monitoring of agricultural subsurface drain tile systems is important for adequate water quality management. However, existing monitoring techniques for flow and contaminant loads from tile drains are expensive and labour intensive. The aim of this study was to develop a cost-effective and simple method for monitoring loads from tile drains. The Flowcap is a modified Sutro weir (MSW) unit that can be attached to the outlet of tile drains. It is capable of registering total flow, contaminant loads and flow-averaged concentrations. The MSW builds on a modern passive sampling technique that responds to hydraulic pressure and measures average concentrations over time (days to months) for various substances. Mounting the samplers in the MSW allowed a flow-proportional part of the drainage to be sampled. Laboratory testing yielded high linear correlation between the accumulated sampler flow, q _total, and accumulated drainage flow, Q _total (r ²?>?0.96). The slope of these correlations was used to calculate the total drainage discharge from the sampled volume, and therefore contaminant load. A calibration of the MSW under controlled laboratory condition was needed before interpretation of the monitoring results was possible. The MSW does not require a shed, electricity, or maintenance. This enables large-scale monitoring of contaminant loads via tile drains, which can improve contaminant transport models and yield valuable information for the selection and evaluation of mitigation options to improve water quality. Results from this type of monitoring can provide data for the evaluation and optimisation of best management practices in agriculture in order to produce the highest yield without water quality and recipient surface waters being compromised.     

Colloid-Associated Groundwater Contaminant Transport in Homogeneous Saturated Porous Media: Mathematical and Numerical Modeling

During the past two decades, significant efforts have been made to study contaminant transport in the presence of colloids. Several researchers reported that colloidal particles could enhance the migration of contaminants in groundwater by reducing retardation factor. When the colloidal particles are present in the aquifer, the subsurface system can be considered as a three-phase system with two solid phases and an aqueous phase. The interaction between contaminants, colloids, and solid matrix should be considered in assessing the fate and transport of the contaminant in the groundwater flow system. In this study, a one-dimensional numerical model is developed by employing a fully implicit finite difference method. This model is based on mass balance equations and mass partition mechanisms between the carriers and solid matrix, as well as between the carriers and contaminants in a saturated homogeneous porous medium. This phenomenon is presented by two approaches: equilibrium approach and fully kinetic first-order approach. The formulation of the model can be simplified by employing equilibrium partitioning of particles. However, contaminant transport can be predicted more accurately in realistic situations by kinetic modeling. To test the sensitivity of the model, the effect of the various chemical and physical coefficients on the migration of contaminant was investigated. The results of numerical modeling matched favorably with experimental data reported in the literature.     

不同气团来源对广州细颗粒物理化特性的影响

利用2006年7月广州细颗粒物质量浓度、数谱分布与化学组成的观测数据与气团后向轨迹聚类分析结果,系统分析了不同气团来源对广州细颗粒物理化特性的影响。观测期间,广州气团来源可分成来自远海、近海、西面陆地和北面陆地4种类型。细颗粒物总数浓度水平在4种类型中基本相当。当气团来自远海时,二次转化影响较小,PM2.5质量浓度较低,颗粒物数浓度从大到小依次为老化爱根核模态新鲜爱根核模态度积聚模态;受到海洋气团的影响,Cl-在PM2.5中比例为4种类型中最大。气团来自近海时,颗粒物二次生成与老化现象突出,数谱峰值出现在积聚模态,而其他类型出现在爱根核模态;SO2-4、OC与NO-3之和在PM2.5中的比例大于50%,为4种类型中最高。气团来自西面陆地和北面陆地时,细颗粒物受陆地传输老化气团和本地来源影响均较明显。来自北面陆地时,250 nm以上颗粒物数浓度明显升高,是PM2.5平均浓度远高于其他类型的直接原因之一。     

Assessment of phenanthrene bioavailability in aged and unaged soils by mild extraction

It has become apparent that the threat of an organic pollutant in soil is directly related to its bioavailable fraction and that the use of total contaminant concentrations as a measure of potential contaminant exposure to plants or soil organisms is inappropriate. In light of this, non-exhaustive extraction techniques are being investigated to assess their appropriateness in determining bioavailability. To find a suitable and rapid extraction method to predict phenanthrene bioavailability, multiple extraction techniques (i.e., mild hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD) and organic solvents extraction) were investigated in soil spiked to a range of phenanthrene levels (i.e., 1.12, 8.52, 73, 136, and 335 μg g^− 1 dry soil). The bioaccumulation of phenanthrene in earthworm (Eisenia fetida) was used as the reference system for bioavailability. Correlation results for phenanthrene suggested that mild HPCD extraction was a better method to predict bioavailability of phenanthrene in soil compared with organic solvents extraction. Aged (i.e., 150 days) and fresh (i.e., 0 day) soil samples were used to evaluate the extraction efficiency and the effect of soil contact time on the availability of phenanthrene. The percentage of phenanthrene accumulated by earthworms and percent recoveries by mild extractants changed significantly with aging time. Thus, aging significantly reduced the earthworm uptake and chemical extractability of phenanthrene. In general, among organic extractants, methanol showed recoveries comparable to those of mild HPCD for both aged and unaged soil matrices. Hence, this extractant can be suitable after HPCD to evaluate risk of contaminated soils.     

Effect of Mediterranean shrub on water erosion control

In the Spanish Mediterranean environment, scrub vegetation occupies a greater area than does forest. The impact of wildfire on the scrub vegetation and recovery afterward affects a number of other processes, including water erosion. While recovered vegetation considerably influences soil protection and erosion control, this function has scarcely been studied. This study discusses the behavior and architecture of recovering (or regenerating) typical Mediterranean shrub vegetation and the subsequent impact on soil protection. The study compared two protective forage species (Medicago arborea L. and Psoralea bituminosa L.). The research was performed in field conditions on a set of four experimental plots. A control plot was maintained with no vegetation cover. Runoff and soil loss by water erosion between 1989 and 1992 were studied on each of these plots. The natural vegetation was found to have a more significant protective effect (69.2% decrease in soil loss) than the other species tested. Soil loss on the Medicago plot decreased by 41.7%, and soil loss on the Psoralea plot decreased by 29.3%. That the Psoralea was only recently planted must be considered in evaluating its protective effects.     

Types of Ectomycorrhiza of Mature Beech and Spruce at Ozone-Fumigated and Control Forest Plots

In the Kranzberg forest near Freising (Germany) a novel “Free-Air Canopy O₃ Exposure” system has been employed for analysing O₃-induced responses from sub-cellular to ecosystem levels that are relevant for carbon balance and CO₂ demand of 60-year-old beech trees. The below-ground ectomycorrhizal community was studied in two-fold ambient O₃ concentrations (five cores per sampling) and in a control plot with an ambient O₃ concentration (four cores per sampling). Five samplings were taken throughout two vegetation seasons (2003 and 2004). Types of ectomycorrhiza were determined by their morphological, anatomical and molecular characteristics and quantified by counting. The total number of mycorrhizal fine roots was higher at the fumigated plot as compared with the control site. The numbers of ectomycorrhizal types at the fumigated and control plots were 28 and 26, respectively. Cenococcum geophilum was present in all soil cores at all sampling times with a significant increase in abundance under ozone-fumigated trees. Other mycorrhizal types present at higher abundance at the fumigated than at the control plot were identified as Russula densiflora, R. fellea, R. illota, Tuber puberulum, Lactarius sp. 2 and Russula sp. 2. Some mycorrhizal types were present exclusively at the fumigated plot (Fagirhiza fusca, F. setifera, Lactarius acris, Piceirhiza nigra and Russula sp. 1). A possible ecological role for the abundant types of ectomycorrhiza and their putative application in bio-indication is discussed.     

Transport and Adhesion of Escherichia coli JM109 in Soil Aquifer Treatment (SAT): One-Dimensional Column Study

Bacteria transport and adhesion experiments under water-saturated and partially saturated conditions were examined over a wide range of ionic strength, from 1 to 100 mM KCl, CaCl₂, and MgCl₂, and at water contents of 0.15 and 0.22 in sand columns packed with three different sands, baked, sterilized, and raw sands in order to investigate the effects of ionic strength, water content, and porous media type on the microbial adhesion in soil aquifer treatment (SAT). Well-characterized Escherichia coli JM109 were used as model bacterial cells in this study. Column study results showed that bacterial deposition rates increased with increasing ionic strength and decreasing water content, and were higher in raw sand columns than those in other sand columns. The Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theory was applied to experimental results in order to consider the interaction energies between the bacterial cells and collector grains; results revealed that a considerable amount of bacterial cells was weakly deposited onto the solid surfaces in secondary minimum.     

Hydrocarbon Uptake by Roots of Vicia faba (Fabaceae)

Vicia faba was grown in crude oil polluted soil and its roots were extracted for the detection and estimation of hydrocarbons. Saturated and unsaturated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons (AHs) ranging from C₂₂ to C₃₆ were identified in AHs fraction. However, PAHs were not present in the same extract. This could be due to the fact that PAHs being toxic compounds are not accumulated in the plant root extracts of V. faba grown in crude oil polluted soil. Three phytoalexins were identified and estimated by mass spectrometric analysis in the root extracts of V. faba. These three compounds are 2-t-butyl-4-(dimethyl benzyl) phenol, 2, 4-bis (dimethyl benzyl) phenol and 2,4-bis (dimethyl benzyl)-6-butyl phenol. These phenolics in V. faba are being reported for the first time. These compounds are presumably elicited as a direct stress on crude oil hydrocarbons on the roots of this plant.     

Atrazine Transport Within a Coastal Zone in Southeastern Puerto Rico: a Sensitivity Analysis of an Agricultural Field Model and Riparian Zone Management Model

Agrichemical runoff from farmland may adversely impact coastal water quality. Two models, the Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) and the Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM), were used to evaluate the movement of the herbicide atrazine to the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve from adjacent fields. The reserve is located on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast. Edge-of-field atrazine outputs simulated with the APEX were routed through a grass-forest buffer using the REMM. Atrazine DT₅₀ (half-life) values measured in both field and buffer soils indicated that accelerated degradation conditions had developed in the field soil due to repeated atrazine application. APEX simulations examined both the measured field and buffer soil atrazine DT₅₀ and the model’s default value. The use of the measured field soil atrazine degradation rate in the APEX resulted in 33 % lower atrazine transport from the field. REMM simulations indicated that the buffer system had the potential to reduce dissolved atrazine transport in surface runoff by 77 % during non-tropical storm events by increasing infiltration, slowing transport, and increasing time for pesticide degradation. During a large runoff event due to a tropical storm that occurred close to the time of an atrazine application, the REMM simulated only a 37 % reduction in atrazine transport. The results indicate that large storm events soon after herbicide application likely dominate herbicide transport to coastal waters in the region. These results agree with water quality measurements in the reserve. This study demonstrated the sensitivity of these models to variations in DT₅₀ values in evaluating atrazine fate and transport in the region and emphasizes that the use of measured DT₅₀ values can improve model accuracy.     

Water pinch analysis for water and wastewater minimization in Tehran oil refinery considering three contaminants

This study aims to find an appropriate way to minimize water utility in the petrochemical and petroleum industries due to high rate of water consumption. For this purpose, Tehran oil refinery has been well studied. In this research, three key contaminants including suspended solid, hardness as well as COD have been considered to analyze the water network. In addition, the potential of water reuse was studied for all methods. These key contaminants once were analyzed separately as a single contaminant and the amount of required freshwater was calculated for them. In this stage, amount of freshwater was reduced to about 60.9 (17%), 203 (59.7%) and 143 m³/h (42.5%) in terms of suspended solids, hardness, and COD, respectively. Water minimization within operations for suspended solids is less than two others. Therefore, this is a limiting contaminant and can be selected as a key contaminant. In the next stage, three contaminants were analyzed two by two based on their mass transfer. Results show that, in the targeting for minimization based on the suspended solids and hardness, the amount of required water is reduced to 142.74 m³/h or 42%. This amount for suspended solids and COD is equal to 86.3 m³/h (26%) and for COD and hardness is 124 m³/h (37%). Analyzing the methods shows that the method based on the double contaminant gives more precise results rather than single contaminant.