The effect of pH on the transport of clay mineral colloid in saturated porous media

The pH is an important factor which affects the transport of colloids.Kaolinite and montmorillonite were common types of experimental materials in soil with different structural clay minerals.By indoor simulation and mathematical model analysis,this paper investigated the migration mechanism of two types of inorganic colloids in porous media with different pH conditions.The results showed that the transport of kaolinite colloid was affected by pH dramatically.The ξ-potential and particle size varied significantly with the varied pH,with significantly different breakthrough curves under different pH conditions.In acidic condition,the recovery rate of kaolinite colloid was significantly reduced,while the pH had no influence on that of montmorillonite colloid.It was reliable to simulate colloid transport in saturated porous media model by HYDRUS-1D model,and the simulated data had significant or remarkably significant correlation with the measured data.