Multicomponent reactive transport in an in situ zero-valent iron cell.

Data collected from a field study of in situ zero-valent iron treatment for TCE were analyzed in the context of coupled transport and reaction processes. The focus of this analysis was to understand the behavior of chemical components, including contaminants, in groundwater transported through the iron cell of a pilot-scale funnel and gate treatment system. A multicomponent reactive transport simulator was used to simultaneously model mobile and nonmobile components undergoing equilibrium and kinetic reactions including TCE degradation, parallel iron dissolution reactions, precipitation of secondary minerals, and complexation reactions. The resulting mechanistic model of coupled processes reproduced solution chemistry behavior observed in the iron cell with a minimum of calibration. These observations included the destruction of TCE and cis-1,2-DCE; increases in pH and hydrocarbons; and decreases in EH, alkalinity, dissolved O2 and CO2, and major ions (i.e., Ca, Mg, Cl, sulfate, nitrate). Mineral precipit...