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Transport of Solute from a Fine-Grained Unit to a Coarse-Grained Host Under Pulsed-Pumping Fluid Dynamics: An Experimental Investigation

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Abstract

Pulsed pumping has the potential to be an effective alternative to continuous pumping pump-and-treat remediation techniques in porous media that exhibit a sharp material interface and tailing phenomenon is observed. Solute transport experiments performed in a soil column filled with a uniform coarse sand containing a uniform silt cylinder were conducted. Concentration measurements using saltwater as a tracer were taken employing time-domain reflectometry probes located throughout the column. The laboratory trials employed continuous pumping, 24-h periods of pumping followed by 24-h periods of no pumping, and 4-h periods of pumping followed by 24-h periods of no pumping. The experimental results suggest that pulsed pumping can achieve similar contaminant removal for a given amount of time as continuous pumping while pumping less water.

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Acknowledgments

The authors like to acknowledge the financial support of the E.I duPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware, in the pursuit of this research.

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  1. College of Engineering and Mathematics, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA

    George Lester & George Pinder

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  1. George Lester
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  2. George Pinder
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Correspondence to George Pinder.

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Lester, G., Pinder, G. Transport of Solute from a Fine-Grained Unit to a Coarse-Grained Host Under Pulsed-Pumping Fluid Dynamics: An Experimental Investigation. Transp Porous Med 112, 737–748 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0673-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0673-3

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