Adsorption and transport of polymaleic acid on Callovo-Oxfordian clay stone: Batch and transport experiments

The migration of PMA was studied by applying a hydraulic gradient to a clay core inserted in a stainless steel cell. Breakthrough of polymaleic acid, simulated with a 1D transport model including the two-box first-order non-reversible model, revealed that the mobility of PMA was limited by the same set of reversible/irreversible interactions as observed in the dispersed system. However, to describe efficiently the transport, the total sorption capacity had to be reduced to 33% of the capacity estimated in batch experiments. The irreversible sorption on the weak site was also slower in the intact sample than in the crushed sample. Geometrical constraints would therefore affect both the accessibility to the sorption sites and the kinetics of the irreversible sorption process.