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Correcting the Effect of the Sorbent to Solution Ratio on Sorption Isotherms from Batch Tests with Soils and Sediments

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Abstract

There is evidence in the literature that the ratio of mass of sorbent (M) to volume of solution (V) affects the results of batch tests with soils and sediments. This restricts the use of such data to conditions with the same M/V ratio they were derived with, unless its influence is corrected. To find a correction, we conducted batch tests with soil and zinc solution using four M/V ratios. For each ratio, the experiments produced a different relationship between the mass of zinc sorbed per unit mass of soil (a s) and the zinc concentration in the solution after shaking and removal of the solid phase (C det), which is usually taken as the equilibrium concentration (C eq). A theoretical analysis revealed that the M/V effect can be accounted for by dividing C det by the M/V ratio, if it is caused by the presence of a “third phase”. The relationship between a s and C det×V/M is the same for all ratios then.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Agrar-und Ernährungswissenschaften, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät III, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Julius-Kühn-Str. 23, 06112, Halle, Germany

    Kay-Uwe Fehse & Heinz Borg

  2. Institut für Chemie, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Str. 2, 06120, Halle, Germany

    Eduard Sorkau & Kurt Pilchowski

  3. Dresdner Grundwasserforschungszentrum e.V., Meraner Str. 10, 01217, Dresden, Germany

    Ludwig Luckner

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  1. Kay-Uwe Fehse
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  2. Heinz Borg
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  3. Eduard Sorkau
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  4. Kurt Pilchowski
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  5. Ludwig Luckner
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Correspondence to Heinz Borg.

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Fehse, KU., Borg, H., Sorkau, E. et al. Correcting the Effect of the Sorbent to Solution Ratio on Sorption Isotherms from Batch Tests with Soils and Sediments. Water Air Soil Pollut 210, 211–220 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-009-0243-1

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