Summary

The paper written by R.S. Govindaraju, L.N. Reddi, S.K. Kasavaraju presents a new physically based model
(based on laboratory experiment results) to capture the movement of colloidal particles (kaolinite particles
of 0.1-10mm size range) through three different types of porous media (three dry sands with different initial
kaolinite concentration of 5%, 10%, and 15% by weight). The authors explained that conversely to solute
transport in porous media, which has been widely studied, few studies include modeling of contaminants
absorbed to the mobile solid phase (also called facilitated or enhanced transport) that was shown in different
experimental studies, such as Nightingale and Bianchi (1977), Buddemeier and Hunt (1988), and Ryan and
Gschwend (1990). By the time that the paper was written, the mechanism of the movement of colloidal
particles was not understood neither at the smallest scale (pore), addressed by McDowell-Boyer (1992)
who described the competition between the Londonvan der Waals attractive forces and the electrical double
layer attractive/repulsive forces between the colloidal particles and the surface of the solid matrix, nor at
the macroscopic scale (Darcy), which is presented by the authors of the paper modifying some concepts of
surficial erosion.
The three soil mixtures were prepared and compacted in permeameters following the ASTM standard
Proctor method. The water content for each soil was previously obtained from compaction curves. After
compaction, the samples were saturated to consequently apply air pressure (selected from trial experiments
that yield particle mobilization) on a standing water column of 4 inches. The effect of time rate of pressure
application was also studied applying the air pressure differently. The permeameter effluent was sampled
continuously to determine the Kaolinite concentrations using a turbidimeter.
The authors describe the mathematical model for dispersion and transport of colloidal particles where three
process are considered to occur simultaneously. First, because of external influences, the critical shear stress
at the pore scale is overcome. It leads to a detachment of clay particles from the matrix soil and a
consequently increase in pore space. Secondly, the released soil particles are exposed to convective-
dispersive transport. Finally, these particles can be deposited in other voids due to local changes in pore
flow velocities or pore geometry. The authors mentioned that not all the soil matrix is washed out and that
flow dynamics is strongly affected by colloidal transport process.