Kinetic control of contaminant release from NAPLs - Experimental evidence

Mass transfer processes of pollutants from non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) may control groundwater pollution at abandoned industrial sites. We studied release kinetics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from fresh and aged tar phases using a dialysis tubing technique. Time for equilibration ranged from several days to more than three years. For fresh tar materials the release seems to be limited by retarded pore diffusion, while for two of three aged tars diffusion limited release influenced by dissolved organic matter (DOM) was assumed. The equilibration process was driven by solubilization thermodynamics expressed by Raoult's law. Yet, solubility enhancement was observed potentially due to the presence of organic mobile sorbents. The results show that the release of PAHs from tar phases is generally rate limited and partitioning according to Raoult's law is the driving mechanism of the exchanges process.