Simulation and parameter determination of the net sorption of phenanthrene by sediment particles

Abstract

The distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the ocean is affected by the sorption-desorption process of sediment particles. This process is determined by the concentration of PAHs in seawater, water temperature, and organic matter content of sediment particles. Quantitative relationships between the net sorption rates (=the difference of sorption and desorption rates) and these factors have not been established yet and used in PAH transport models. In this study, phenanthrene was chosen as the representative of PAHs. Three groups of experimental data were collected to address the dependence of the net sorption processes on the initial concentration, water temperature, and organic carbon content representing organic matter content. One-site and two-compartment mass-transfer models were tested to represent the experimental data using various parameters. The results showed that the two-compartment mass-transfer model performed better than the one-site mass-transfer model. The parameters of the two-compartment mass-transfer model include the sorption rate coefficients k_a^fand k_a^s (L g^-1 min^-1), and the desorption rate coefficients k_d^f and k_d^s (min^-1). The parameters at different temperatures and organic carbon contents were obtained by numerical simulations. Linear relationships were obtained between the parameters and water temperature, as well as organic carbon content. k_a^f, k_a^s and k_d^f decreased linearly, while k_d^s increased linearly with temperature. k_a^f, k_a^s and k_d^f increased linearly, while k_d^s decreased linearly with organic carbon content. The r² values between the simulation results based on the relationships and the experimental results reached 0.96-0.99, which supports the application of the model to simulate sorption-desorption processes at different water temperatures and organic carbon contents in a realistic ocean.

Keywords: Organic carbon content; Particles; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Sorption-desorption model; Temperature.