Transport of Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron in Heterogeneous Soils: Model Development and Sensitivity Study

Subsurface remediation using nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI) is a promising in-situ technology that can convert groundwater contaminants into non-toxic compounds. Despite its promising characteristics, field scale implementation of nZVI technology has faced major challenges due to poor subsurface mobility and limited longevity, all leading to smaller nZVI travel distance. How far nZVI travels in the subsurface is an important parameter as it influences the amount of contaminants that could be reached and thereby remediated. This thesis examined various factors (viscosity, groundwater velocity, injection flux, soil heterogeneity, lag period) on nZVI travel distance through a numerical model and by performing a statistical analysis which revealed that viscosity has a statistically significant impact on nZVI travel distance while the impact of groundwater velocity and injection flux are statistically insignificant. The model also revealed that soil heterogeneity plays an important factor and that longer nZVI injection periods are better for nZVI deployment in the field.