Mathematical Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis on Cadmium Transport in Kaolinite under Direct Current Electric Field

Soil pollution is a challenging concern for environmentalists. Different remediation methods have been proposed toremediate polluted soils. Most of the existing methods cannot purify low permeable soils. Electrokinetic remediation(EKR) is an effective method which can remediate fine-grained soils. Understanding the physicochemical phenomena ofthe EKR is necessary to achieve efficient experimental framework. Therefore, the present study aims to introduce atheoretical and mathematical model for the EKR process. In the present model, different transport phenomena includingion migration, electroosmotic flow, and diffusion were considered. In addition, Chemical reactions such asadsorption/desorption, precipitation/dissolution, water autoionization reaction, and electrolysis reaction were considered.For modeling purpose, a set of partial differential and algebraic equations were used to model the remediation process. Theimplicit finite difference numerical model showed a good capability of simulating the EKR process. The sensitivity analysison the retardation and tortuosity factors represented that the retardation factor had a considerable effect on the pH andcadmium concentration profiles. Although tortuosity factor did not have a significant impact on the pH profile, it had anon-negligible effect on the cadmium concentration profile.

کلیدواژه ها:

Numerical Model ، Finite Difference ، Chemical Reaction ، Electrokinetic ، Cadmium ، Sensitivity Analysis