Evaluation of Changes in Iron Interfacial Composition Using Surface Spectroscopy
Abstract
Although the ability of granular cast iron permeable reactive barriers to attenuate many persistent groundwater contaminants is well established, many uncertainties remain about the interactions that occur between cast iron and contaminant species. To better understand these interactions we set out to evaluate how various inorganic species and organic contaminants affect the interfacial composition of the iron over time. Column studies using granular iron enable us to observe changes in iron interfacial composition as a function of distance along the column as well as of column "age". The spectroscopic evaluations reported here are for ten columns that were fed continuously with simulated anoxic groundwaters of different chemistries. Nine of these columns were packed with untreated sieved cast iron and one was packed with a mixture of cast iron and the aluminosilicate mineral albite. Of the ten columns, seven have been continually fed chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs), one has been continually fed nitroaromatic compounds (NACs), and two have only periodically been fed CHCs in their influent. Six of these ten columns were operated for 1100 days and the remaining four were operated for 475 days. In an anaerobic glovebox, sample grains were extracted for surface spectroscopic characterization using solid sampling ports drilled into the columns. At each port, several iron grains were removed and immediately put into headspace free vials containing porewater obtained from the nearest aqueous sampling port. Samples were then analyzed using in-situ Raman analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Raman spectra indicate that the interfacial composition of the iron grains changes substantially between the inlet and the outlet of a given column. Near the inlet, Raman bands corresponding to the iron oxides goethite and magnetite are prevalent, whereas grains from a port near the column outlet exhibit bands at 425 and 504 cm-1, corresponding to the Fe2+-OH stretch and the Fe3+-OH stretch, respectively, of the redox-active mineral green rust. Comparisons at two different times (308 and 921 days) suggest that the interfacial composition of the iron grains also changed as the columns aged, with the longer-term downgradient compositions becoming more like those observed upgradient at earlier times. These in-situ Raman observations were supported by both AES and TEM. The observed spatial and temporal changes in the interfacial composition of the iron indicate that the iron grains become more passivated as the columns age. Initially, this passivation is most notable near the influent end of the columns, since that region receives the largest influx of reducible material. As the columns age, the passivated region slowly expands into the distal regions of the columns. This presentation will address the use of surface spectroscopy to analyze these changes in interfacial composition and will relate the observations to feed solution properties and to concurrent observations of reactivity changes. The implications of these results on the design and longevity of cast iron barriers will also be discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AGUFM.H22A0352V
- Keywords:
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- 1831 Groundwater quality;
- 1832 Groundwater transport;
- 3625 Descriptive mineralogy;
- 3665 Mineral occurrences and deposits