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Phosphorus Fate and Transport in Soil Columns Loaded Intermittently with Influent of High Phosphorus Concentrations
Author(s) -
Zhang Tian C.,
Dahab Mohamed F.,
Nunes Germana S.,
Hu Cong,
Surampalli Rao
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143007x184195
Subject(s) - phosphorus , soil water , chemistry , adsorption , mass transfer , mass transfer coefficient , precipitation , environmental chemistry , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , soil science , chromatography , geology , geotechnical engineering , physics , organic chemistry , meteorology
In this study, several columns of different lengths were filled with composite soils sampled from the field at corresponding depths and then loaded intermittently with influent of a high phosphorus concentration to evaluate phosphorus fate and transport in soil. The results indicate that the height of the mass transfer zone, solvent pore velocity, and soil's life expectancy for phosphorus removal increased with depth, while the retained phosphorus per kilogram of soil and the linear adsorption equilibrium coefficient, R , decreased with depth. An equation was developed to link liquid‐phase phosphorus with solvent traveling time and soil depth. The results of X‐ray diffraction and washout tests indicate that calcium‐phosphorus precipitation and/or crystal growth occurred in the columns. The new protocol is useful for evaluation of phosphorus fate and transport in other subsurface systems, because it allows flexible adjustments in hydraulic loadings, feed solution, and sampling schemes.