Fundamental Studies in
Air Sparging Processes
Research Objective:
.The objective of this work was to measure the influence of two discrete air channels at pre-determined spacing through saturated porous media on the removal of a glob of benzene NAPL, and to quantitatively examine the effects of porous media, air channel airflow rate, and most importantly air channel spacing on mass transfer and benzene NAPL removal during air sparging based on a numerical modeling approach. The approach used allowed the quantification of the effects of airflow rate, porous media properties, and channel spacing separately from each other in order to obtain an understanding of the important properties of an air sparged system. A diffusion, dissolution, and volatilization (DDV) model was developed to estimate dissolution and volatilization mass transfer coefficients using experimentally determined aqueous and air phase concentrations.
Qualitative studies:
Numerical modeling:
