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Flow of Kaolinite and Sewage Suspensions in Sand and Sand‐Silt: I. Accumulation of Suspension Particles
Author(s) -
Uebler R. L.,
Swartzendruber D.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1982.03615995004600020005x
Subject(s) - kaolinite , silt , suspension (topology) , quartz , mineralogy , hydraulic conductivity , particle (ecology) , water content , particle size , soil science , geology , geotechnical engineering , materials science , soil water , composite material , geomorphology , paleontology , oceanography , mathematics , homotopy , pure mathematics
Water suspensions of kaolinite clay and sewage solids were applied to vertical columns of initially air‐dry fine quartz sand and sand‐silt (95% fine quartz sand and 5% quartz silt), and sand‐silt initially satiated (nearly saturated) with water. Water content and suspension‐particle content (bulk density) were measured at various vertical positions in the column by dual‐energy gamma‐ray attenuation, beginning with the application of suspension and continuing until the overall hydraulic conductivity of the column had decreased to 1 mm/hour. The attenuation technique was successful for measuring the kaolinite bulk density but was of limited value for determining the sewage‐solid bulk density. By postulating a mechanism of suspension‐particle entrapment within the porous medium, an exponential equation was derived to describe the accumulation of suspension particles with time at a fixed position. The constants in this equation were determined from the experimental data by nonlinear least‐squares regression and appeared to offer promise for characterizing the kaolinite accumulation in the sand and sand‐silt. In general, the maximum accumulation of kaolinite occurred in the several millimeters nearest the suspension‐application surface. The initial water content (air‐dry or satiated) had little effect on kaolinite accumulation in the sand‐silt, and the detectable depth of penetration was 3 to 4 cm in both cases. In contrast, kaolinite penetration to about 16 cm was detected in the initially air‐dry sand, whereas the maximum (near‐surface) accumulations were larger than in the sand‐silt but required much more time to attain.