(234m) Effect of Surface Reactions in the Electrokinetic-Based Cleaning of Contaminated Soils

Electrokinetic-based coupled with hydrodynamic-based driving forces are used in the process of cleaning contaminated soils by electrokinetic-centered remediation. This type of remediation utilizes a relative low-voltage direct current (DC) electric field (EF) as its key cleaning-mechanism. Depending of operating and soil conditions, Joule heating, combined with heat of reaction are produced and, therefore, the temperature increases could impact the cleaning efficiency. In general, soils are non-uniform environments and thus we simulate this situation by a pore domain with non-symmetrical boundaries. The model uses a rectangular geometry (channel) that is resting on an incline position at a given angle. The channel is bounded by a surface reaction on one side while heat is being released from the opposite side at a different rate. In order to understand the possible impact of the temperature increase on the hydrodynamics of the system, a microscopic-scale model has been formulated. The mathematical model developed uses parameters such as the Nusselt number, the heat of reaction number, and Grashof number to describe the system behavior in the temperature/velocity profiles. The presentation will include details about the model formulation and illustrative results from the model predictions.