Migration of inorganic chemicals in some tropical soils: sorption and molecular diffusion

Author(s)

Adilson do Lago Leite

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Carlos.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD)
• Defense date: 2001-09-27

Examining board members

Antenor Braga Paraguassú; Maria Claudia Barbosa; Maria Eugênia Gimenez Boscov; Jorge Eduardo de Souza Sarkis; Lázaro Valentin Zuquette

• Advisor: Antenor Braga Paraguassú

Abstract

There is a growing demand for materials that can be used in lining systems for waste disposal facilities. The use of tropical soils for this purpose is restricted due to the lack of technical knowledge about this type of material. Attempts to improve the quality of supposed unsuitable soils play also an important role. This thesis presents studies concerning the migration of the ions \'CD POT.2+\', \'K POT.+\', \'CL POT.-\' and \'F POT.-\' in latosoils from the Botucatu and Serra Geral formations and three different mixtures of these soils, with emphasis on sorption and molecular diffusion. Batch equilibrium tests were conduced to examine the retention capacity of the soils, and the sorption parameters are estimated by fitting the linear, Freundlich and Langmuir models to the experimental isotherm plots. The potential for these soils to transport ions is evaluated by diffusion tests, where theoretical curves produced in the POLLUTE code are used to estimate the effective diffusion coefficients (D*). The results show that the \'CL POT.-\' is sorbed under specific conditions and, therefore, it can not always be used as a conservative ion (i.e. nonreactive ion), \'K POT.+\' and \'F POT.-\' are sorbed in similar amounts, and that the \'CD POT.2+\' sorption is highly dependent on the contaminant solution composition. Several D* values are reported, showing that the diffusion rates are decreased for soils with more clay. (AU)