Advanced Environmental Remediation Processes – Homework 1

Due 9/12/1401

1. Air stripping is a process in which volatile organics dissolved in water are removed by
contacting the water stream with air in a packed column. Water that contains 2500 ppm (by weight)
trichloroethane (TCA) is contacted with air in a column that operates at 600 mm Hg pressure. The
Henry’s Law constant for TCA is 9.09x10-4 atm-m3/mol. What will be the mol fraction of TCA in
air in equilibrium with the 2500 ppm solution?

2. Oil spills frequently occur in coastal areas. If a certain oil that contains 0.4% PAHs (percent in
mol fraction) spills and if the PAH activity coefficient in oil is 1.75, whereas that in water is 3168:

a) What will be the mole fraction of PAHs in water?

b) What would have been the mole fraction in the water phase if we assume the oil phase to be
an ideal solution?
c) What would have been the water phase mol fraction if both liquids were assumed to be ideal
liquids?

3. 2,4-dichlorophenol, a common contaminant, has vapor pressure of 0.089 mmHg, water

solubility of 4500 mg/L and an Henry’s Law Constant of 6.66x10-6 atm-m3/mol, all measured at
25oC. What will be its activity coefficient in water at 25oC? How effective would it be to remove
2,4-dichlorophenol from water by air stripping at atmospheric pressure? Would it be more (less)
effective if the stripping is carried under partial vacuum of 500 mm Hg, why?

4. Soil vapor extraction is a process in which a VOC plume in the subsurface vadose zone is
removed by applying vacuum to the soil gas phase. If the subsurface soil can be assumed to be a
homogenous solid, explain the type of the thermodynamic equilibria in the subsurface and how
that changes as vacuum is applied to the soil gas.