Retention of Nonionic Organic Compounds on Thermally Treated Soils

Abstract

To achieve a higher efficiency of thermal remediation of soil contaminated with organic compounds, the retention mechanisms of organic compounds on thermally treated soil need to be understood adequately. In this study, a soil-column gas chromatography approach was developed to determine the soil-air partition coefficients (K(SA)) at 300 degrees C for a diverse set of nonionic organic compounds bearing many different functional groups; and the retention mechanisms of these organic compounds on two typical soils, isohumisols and ferralisols, were characterized using a polyparameter linear free energy relationship (pp-LFER). The K(SA) values (mL g(-1)) of typical volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with lower boiling points were <1.5 and in some cases even below 1.0, suggesting the rapid removal of VOCs from soils at 300 degrees C. Moreover, the K(SA) values were found to be a strong function of the soil-column temperature T (K), and be almost independent of the carrier-gas flow rate. Significant differences in molecular interactions were noted among various soil-solute pairs. The relative contributions of nonspecific van der Waals forces to the retention of test polar solutes were higher on isohumisols than on ferralisols. In contrast to the reported pp-LFER models for natural soils and soil components at normal environmental temperatures, our results suggest that elevated temperature remarkably reduces H-bond interactions between polar organic compounds and the soil matrix, thus allowing accelerated desorption of polar organic compounds from soils during thermal treatment.