ONE-DIMENSIONAL VIRUS TRANSPORT IN HOMOGENEOUS POROUS-MEDIA WITH TIME-DEPENDENT DISTRIBUTION COEFFICIENT

A stochastic model for one-dimensional virus transport in homogeneous, saturated, semi-infinite porous media is developed. The model account s for first-order inactivation of liquid-phase and adsorbed viruses wi th different inactivation rate constants, and time-dependent distribut ion coefficient. It is hypothesized that the virus adsorption process is described by a local equilibrium expression with a stochastic time- dependent distribution coefficient. A closed form analytical solution is obtained by the method of small perturbation or first-order approxi mation for a semi-infinite porous medium with a flux-type inlet bounda ry condition. The results from several simulations indicate that a tim e-dependent distribution coefficient results in an enhanced spreading of the liquid-phase virus concentration.