Arsenic has been used throughout recorded history but during the industrial revolution widespread use led to global environmental impact. The two forms that should be considered in environment management are arsenate and arsenite. The calculations of environmental risk for arsenic exposure relies the toxicity of arsenite however, in well aeriated surface soils arsenate may be the predominate form. Ecological risk assessments based on arsenite studies will lead to restrictive remediation requirements that do not adequately reflect the level of risk. Arsenate resembles phosphate and as such has a greater affinity for phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is one of the most viable and cost effective cleanup techniques developed. Different mathematical approaches have been implemented to characterize phytoremediation systems to address concerns with performance. A system dynamic model is presented to describe solute transport in groundwater coupled to sorption by plant roots, translocation into plant stems, and evapotranspiration. The model was tested and assessed using published and peer-reviewed experimental data, to assess its capability to mimic phytoremediation processes. The model is consistent with previous research establishing the extraction process as a constringent factor for this cleanup technique. The model included modules that can estimate rainfall, seasonal temperature and growth. The modules allow for the independent verification of data before input into the model. The implementation of phytoremediation model can provide information about: pollutant-media-plant interaction, pollutant concentration and flow rate through the plant.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04072016-144840 |
| Date | 04 May 2016 |
| Creators | Marlborough, Sidney Joseph |
| Contributors | Wilson, Vince, Portier, Ralph, Walsh, Maud, Bade, Lori |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04072016-144840/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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