Optimization of nanoparticles transport model in porous media

At present, the transport of nanoparticles in porous media such as soil is mostly described by a single-collector removal efficiency (η). However, this efficiency only considers the collecting effect of a single solid matrix, and does not consider the trapping effect of the pore space between the porous media such as T - E model. To address this issue, the water retention capacity (fr) was employed to reflect the number of small pores and the existing T-E model was modified. Research has shown that the transport of nanoparticles through columns with the same porosity (f) is not the same, but inversely proportional to the water retention capacity, which has been neglected in previous research. On this basis, the collector contact efficiency by the interception mechanism (ηI) is adjusted to be dependent on both porosity (f) and water retention capacity (fr); thus, the original model was optimized. Furthermore, breakthrough experiments on nanoscale silica particles (nSiO2) through the sand column and breakthrough experiments on nano titanium dioxide (nTiO2) through the sand column with different particle sizes proved that the optimized model is applicable to porous media with different particle sizes and is more accurate in predicting the transport of nanoparticles in porous media. © 2021, Editorial Board of CIESC Journal. All right reserved.