Multicomponent PCB transport in groundwater systems

对受污染地下水的准确评估和具有成本效益的补救措施对于确保加拿大供水的可持续发展至关重要。在加拿大，约有800万人依靠地下水作为其主要饮用水来源。这项提案针对的是国家优先领域--环境和可持续发展--重点是可再生资源管理。涉及的地下水污染物的具体类别是多氯联苯(PCBS)，这是一组209种不同的有机同系物。尽管已不再生产多氯联苯，但由于多氯联苯的高耐降性，这些多氯联苯是持久存在的，存在于加拿大的整个环境中。环境中的大部分多氯联苯质量以致密的非水相液体(DNAPL)的形式存在于地下。这项拟议的研究将利用数值模拟和实验室实验来研究多氯联苯在松散覆盖层沉积和裂隙基岩中的传输。这项工作将以前所未有的细节进行，因为将通过检查乳状液在地下水中的迁移和单个同系物在地下水中的迁移来解决这一问题，而不是采用处理水相中总多氯联苯的传统方法。由此产生的知识和将要开发的3D数值模型可以被加拿大环境行业用来进一步评估、选择和设计受多氯联苯影响的地点的补救技术。这些知识还可用于进行风险评估和评估地下水中的多氯联苯对更广泛的水文循环的贡献。预计这项工作的成果将在3年内对加拿大的环境产业产生积极影响。从长远来看，这项研究的结果将使从业者能够诊断受各种多组分化合物影响的部位，而不仅仅是多氯联苯。研究将由拥有16年地下水系统有机化合物数值模拟和实验室实验经验的研究生进行。

Accurate assessment and cost-effective remediation of contaminated groundwater is essential to ensure the sustainable development of water supplies in Canada where approximately 8 million people rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water. This proposal targets an area of national priority - environment and sustainable development - with an emphasis on renewable resources management. The specific class of groundwater contaminants addressed is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a group of 209 separate organic congeners. Despite the fact that PCBs are no longer manufactured, they are persistent and present throughout Canada's environment because of their high resistance to degradation. The majority of PCB mass in the environment resides in the subsurface in the form of dense, non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). The proposed research will investigate PCB transport in both unconsolidated overburden deposits and fractured bedrock using both numerical simulation and laboratory experimentation. The work will be carried out in unprecedented detail in that the problem will be addressed by examining both emulsion transport and migration of individual congeners in groundwater, as opposed to the traditional approach of addressing total PCBs in the aqueous phase. The resulting knowledge and the 3D numerical models that will be developed can be used by the Canadian environmental industry to further assess, select, and design remedial techniques for PCB-impacted sites. The knowledge can also be used to perform risk assessments and to assess the contribution of PCBs in groundwater to the broader hydrologic cycle. It is expected that the results of this work will have a positive affect on Canada's environmental industry within 3 years. Long term, the results of this research will allow practitioners to diagnose sites impacted by a variety of multicomponent compounds, not just PCBs. Research will be carried out by graduate students in a group that has 16 years experience conducting numerical simulation and laboratory experimentation with organic compounds in groundwater systems.