Determination of Physico-chemical Parameters for Prediction of MSW Leachate Transport through Vadose Zone by Breakthrough Curve in a Realistic Undisturbed Soil Column.

The studies were carried out to find out transport parameters to predict leachate transport and contaminant plume profile underneath a municipal solid waste(MSW) dump. For this, both theoretical and practical avenues were explored. Batch experiments with disturbed soil were carried out with a tracer dye Brilliant Blue FCF to obtain the adsorption isotherm of the tracer. Column experiments with undisturbed realistic soil column were carried out to determine physico-chemical transport parameters using the tracer dye. MSW leachate transport were simulated and sensitivity analysis for MSW leachate transport was carried out for different Darcy velocity for pulse input.For determination of mass-transfer coefficient between the immobilized and mobilized water phase, we usedthe concept of number of transfer units (NTUs) and height of transfer units (HTUs) frequently used by Chemical Engineers. The obtained value of mass transfer coefficient calculated by this method was in excellent agreement with the value obtained from inverse calculation of parameter values by a standard software package (CXTFIT).