Fate and Transport of Nanoparticles in Porous Media: A Numerical Study.
Taghavy, Amir.
2013
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Abstract: Understanding
the transport characteristics of NPs in natural soil systems is essential to revealing
their potential impact on the food chain and groundwater. In addition, many
nanotechnology-based remedial measures require effective transport of NPs through soil,
which necessitates accurate understanding of their transport and retention behavior.
Based upon the conceptual knowledge ... read moreof environmental behavior of NPs, mathematical
models can be developed to represent the coupling of processes that govern the fate of
NPs in subsurface, serving as effective tools for risk assessment and/or design of
remedial strategies. This work presents an innovative hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian
modeling technique for simulating the simultaneous reactive transport of nanoparticles
(NPs) and dissolved constituents in porous media. Governing mechanisms considered in the
conceptual model include particle-soil grain, particle-particle, particle-dissolved
constituents, and particle- oil/water interface interactions. The main advantage of this
technique, compared to conventional Eulerian models, lies in its ability to address
non-uniformity in physicochemical particle characteristics. The developed numerical
simulator was applied to investigate the fate and transport of NPs in a number of
practical problems relevant to the subsurface environment. These problems included: (1)
reductive dechlorination of chlorinated solvents by zero-valent iron nanoparticles
(nZVI) in dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones; (2) reactive transport of
dissolving silver nanoparticles (nAg) and the dissolved silver ions; (3)
particle-particle interactions and their effects on the particle-soil grain
interactions; and (4) influence of particle-oil/water interface interactions on NP
transport in porous media.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2013.
Submitted to the Dept. of Civil Engineering.
Advisor: Linda Abriola.
Committee: Kurt Pennell, Steven Chapra, Grant Garven, and Menachem Elimelech.
Keywords: Environmental engineering, Nanoscience, and Hydrologic sciences.read less - ID:
- kh04f197q
- Component ID:
- tufts:22021
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
