A Multi-Constituent Site-Blocking Approach for Modeling the Transport of CuO Nanoparticles and Co-injected Surfactant in Porous Media

Copper oxide nanoparticles (nCu) are used in a wide array of industrial applications and as biocidal alternatives for water treatment. Toxicity studies indicate that nano-sized copper oxide is more potent in both DNA damage and cytotoxicity, due to larger specific surface area, than micrometer sized particles, and that their release into the environment may pose a risk to the aquatic and subsurface environment. Despite the risk, very little effort has been directed at characterization of the mobility aspect of nCuO. In light of the experimental findings of Jeong and Kim (2009) on the transport of nCuO aggregates, we incorporate a multi-constituent site blocking (MCB) approach presented in Becker et al. (2015) into an existing nanoparticle transport simulator, HELP-1D, to simulate the transport and retention of nCuO in porous media in presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant. A sensitivity study is conducted to explore the effect of variations in physicochemical properties of flow, the injected fluid composition, porous medium, and particles on the deposition kinetics of nCuO. This includes, among other factors, flow velocity, mean particle size, and input concentrations of particle and surfactant, as well as the filtration and site-blocking parameters. Results suggest an acceleration of nCuO transport subsequent to increasing the flow velocity, particle size, and influent concentration of both nCuO and surfactant.