Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Geology and Geography

Committee Chair

John J. Renton.

Abstract

Sorption is a term used in the environmental field to describe how chemical contaminants in soil and groundwater adhere to solid particles such as: clay, peat and activated carbon for the purposes of remediation, fate and transport. A potential surrogate for sorption of chemical contaminants in groundwater is coal fly ash. Batch test experiments have demonstrated coal fly ash's ability to remove hydrophobic, organic petroleum contaminants including: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) in groundwater through the processes of sorption. Coal fly ash is a byproduct material of coal fired power plants that is often disposed of on-site or at landfills. A beneficial use of coal fly ash is for the sorption of BTEX in groundwater.

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