Abstract
To facilitate the design of a cover soil/soil liner system to reduce or remove pollutants from landfill sites, we have developed a model system to estimate the physicochemical characteristics of a soil column, by using the HPLC concept. This system can determine the migration of chemical substances through the soil.
For this system, it was critical to first create a stable soil column. The soil packing method, which is called a pump-pressure switching procedure, is as follows. Water is sent through the soil column by the pump of the HPLC apparatus and, while the pump is still operating the water flow is stopped, by closing the stop valve at the outlet of the soil column. By doing so the soil column is packed tightly in accordance with Pascal's principal. When the pressure reaches its maximum, the valve is re-opened. This closing and opening procedure is repeated every two minutes.
This soil column was applied to saturated percolation flow experiments. We determined the permeability and soil distribution coefficients of chemical substances in various natural soil columns.
