Sorption and transport modeling of hexavalent chromium on soil media

Chromium-soil adsorption system exhibited both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models fit to the sorption data in the studied range of concentration. However the model fit was much better for Freundlich isotherm, this was primarily due to low adsorptive capacity of the soil, 1/n is equal to about 1.08 which is quite close to 1.0, indicating low adsorptive capacity of the soil for chromium(VI) system and the Qmax was observed very low in range of 0.196-0.220 mg Cr(VI)/g of soil. The initial concentration of Cr(VI) in the solution remarkably influenced the equilibrium Cr(VI) uptake on soil sorption process. The model simulated results for the natural redemption of the soil show the periodic movement of the chromium concentration front ultimately reaching quite low concentration at the end of the cycles. In the case of inorganic chemicals, the absence of chemical decay makes the adsorption phenomena as the major contaminant removal mechanism where as for biodegradation the chemical depletion becomes a major factor in the transport of pollutant. Consequently, the concentration of contaminants reaching the ground water table becomes quite low.