Modelling long-term hydraulic conductivity behaviour of zero valent iron column tests for permeable reactive barrier design

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical model to simulate the hydraulic conductivity reduction observed during long-term laboratory column tests is proposed. The column tests are carried out to study dissolved heavy metals removal by using granular zero valent iron (ZVI). The proposed model is also used to analyse the main causes of hydraulic conductivity reduction observed during laboratory column tests. Expansive iron corrosion, precipitation of reaction products, and gas formation are the processes considered in the proposed model. Numerical simulation results show that to reproduce hydraulic behaviour of the experimental systems, the change of pores geometry due to expansive iron corrosion and precipitation of reaction products, which determines a possible stoppage of gas bubbles, should be considered. Furthermore, model results show that only a small percentage of the iron available is corroded during the tests (from 0.4% to 1.9%). According to the model, the average diameter of gas bubbles that better fit the experimental results varies between 0.16 and 0.19 mm. While assuming gas absence (or its possible escape), higher values of iron corrosion rate should be considered to fit the experimental results.