Determination of retardation coefficients of sulfolane and thiolane on soils by K-ow-K-oc and solubility parameter, batch and column experiments

Retardation parameters (R-f) for sulfolane and thioalne were estimated usin g reference values and experimentally as they were mainly observed at an aq uifer underneath a waste disposal site near Brisbane, Australia. Three soil aquifer materials e.g. clay, silty clay and sand were used as sorbents. At first, R-f was obtained employing K-oc-K-ow and solubility parameter, resp ectively, while experimental coefficients were determined from both batch a nd flow-through column tests. Additionally, R-f was observed at a single- a nd bi-solute system through the column test. There was not found any signif icant difference in R-f between K-oc-K-ow and solubility parameters, but th e retardation coefficient was significantly dependent on organic carbon con tent for solubility parameter. In contrast, using K-oc-K-ow, the coefficien t correspondingly varied with an amount of clay content contained in each s oil. In the same manner, the batch-determined parameters were more subject to clay content. On the other hand, the column-determined parameters can be comparable with the desk-derived values. In a bi-solute system, they did n ot influence each other concerning retardation coefficients while they flew though the column simultaneously. It was concluded that there was a large discrepancy in retardation coefficient of batch- against both reference-ori ented estimation and column-determined values.