Fate and transport of particle matter during geotube dewatering of a dioxin and furan (PCDD/F) contaminated sediment.

Abstract

Geotextile tube dewatering is a pre-treatment method utilized in the remediation of high-water content materials (i.e. sediments and slurries). However, given the association some contaminants (e.g. dioxins and furans, (i.e. PCDD/F)) have with particulate matter in these contaminated sediments, understanding the fate and transport of this particle matter in the dewatered effluent is essential. In this paper, pressure filtration tests (PFTs) were conducted to investigate the effect of pressure and filter cake formation on both geotextile filtration efficiency and effluent quality. Transport tests were then performed to evaluate the particle transport through the developed filter cake, as well as the hydraulic characteristics of the medium during dewatering. HYDRUS, a one-dimensional model contaminant transport model was then employed to simulate the experimental particle transport test results. Three different mechanisms of particle transport (i.e. attachment only, detachment only, both attachment and detachment) through saturated porous media were examined to identify the possible mechanisms of observed effluent particle concentration. HYDRUS modeling outputs suggest that both attachment and detachment mechanisms are involved in a given particle’s fate and transport during geotextile dewatering. In addition, parameters such as confining pressure and filter cake properties affect the particle concentration in the effluent.