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Electrokinetic Propagation of Acid and Base Fronts in Clayey Soil: An Experimental and Numerical Study

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Abstract

This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the electrokinetic propagation of acid or base fronts through clayey soil. The experimental study included measuring the electric current, the mass of water extracted, and the advance of the acid and base fronts in synthetic sediment composed of 25% kaolinite and 75% silt. The results show that the flux rate remains constant over time and that the medium acidifies with time. The numerical model is based on the transport equations and, by considering adsorption and auto-ionization of water, it describes the temporal evolution of pH in the specimen. The experimental evaluation of the adsorption isotherms allows us to calculate the retardation factor, which is 69 and 19.5 for the hydronium and hydroxyl ions, respectively. Given these retardation factors, the results of the numerical model are consistent with experimental results and show how the acid and base fronts evolve in a saturated porous medium. Numerical model results show that electromigration is the major contributor to the migration of ions in the porous medium during electrokinetic treatment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge all the members of the consortium “VALSSINNOV” (Antea Group, Inrae, VNF, Vinci terrassement and Afitexinov). The French VALSSINNOV project is supported by BPI France. The VALSSINNOV project aims to develop an innovative and alternative method of onshore management of non-hazardous, non-inert sediments considered as waste that is difficult to recover, thanks to the development, among other things, of active geosynthetics, combining four functions: depollution, filtration, drainage, and reinforcement.

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  1. INRAE, Aix-Marseille université, UMR RECOVER, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Banambono Wilfried Forogo, Guillaume Stoltz & Stéphane Bonelli

  2. AFITEXINOV, Champhol, France

    Banambono Wilfried Forogo

  3. Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, SDAR, Jouy-en-Josas, France

    Nathalie Touze

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  1. Banambono Wilfried Forogo
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Forogo, B.W., Stoltz, G., Touze, N. et al. Electrokinetic Propagation of Acid and Base Fronts in Clayey Soil: An Experimental and Numerical Study. Transp Porous Med 134, 537–563 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-020-01457-2

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