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Soil-Water Partitioning and Desorption Hysteresis of Volatile Organic Compounds from a Louisiana Superfund Site Soil

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Abstract

The adsorption and desorption of three volatile organic compounds (1,2- dichloroethane, 1,1,2- trichloroethane and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane) from a previously uncontaminated clayey soil sample from a Superfund site in North Baton Rouge,Louisiana was studied. In the linear range of the adsorption isotherm, the partition constants were not affected by the presence of the co-solutes. The adsorption isotherms over a wide concentration range on the soil followed the nonlinearFreundlich isotherm. The desorption of the compounds showedsignificant hysteresis at all concentrations studied. Approximately 20 to 70% of the adsorbed mass of organic compounds resisted the desorption even after five months ofsuccessive desorption steps. The desorption of four compounds(1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,4-dichlorobenzeneand hexachlorobutadiene) from a contaminated soil sample fromthe same site was also studied. The aqueous concentration declined as the successive desorption steps progressed. For hexachlorobutediene the desorption can be visualized as occurring in two stages. The first stage involved a ‘loosely bound’ or ‘reversible’ fraction and the second stage involveda ‘tightly bound’ or ‘resistant’ fraction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Prairie View A and M University, Prairie View, Texas, USA

    R. R. Kommalapati

  2. Gordon A and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    K. T. Valsaraj

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    W. D. Constant

Authors
  1. R. R. Kommalapati
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  2. K. T. Valsaraj
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  3. W. D. Constant
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to K. T. Valsaraj.

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Kommalapati, R.R., Valsaraj, K.T. & Constant, W.D. Soil-Water Partitioning and Desorption Hysteresis of Volatile Organic Compounds from a Louisiana Superfund Site Soil. Environ Monit Assess 73, 275–290 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013190302163

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013190302163

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