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Hunkeler, Daniel
Nom
Hunkeler, Daniel
Affiliation principale
Fonction
Professeur.e ordinaire
Email
daniel.hunkeler@unine.ch
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Résultat de la recherche
2 Résultats
Voici les éléments 1 - 2 sur 2
- PublicationAccès libreDocumentation of time-scales for onset of natural attenuation in an aquifer treated by a crude-oil recovery system(2015-4)
;Ponsin, Violaine ;Maier, Joachim ;Guelorget, Yves; ; ;Villavicencio, HakelineHöhener, PatrickA pipeline transporting crude-oil broke in a nature reserve in 2009 and spilled 5100 m3 of oil that partly reached the aquifer and formed progressively a floating oil lens. Groundwater monitoring started immediately after the spill and crude-oil recovery by dual pump-and-skim technology was operated after oil lens formation. This study aimed at documenting the implementation of redox-specific natural attenuation processes in the saturated zone and at assessing whether dissolved compounds were degraded. Seven targeted water sampling campaigns were done during four years in addition to a routine monitoring of hydrocarbon concentrations. Liquid oil reached the aquifer within 2.5 months, and anaerobic processes, from denitrification to reduction of sulfate, were observable after 8 months. Methanogenesis appeared on site after 28 months. Stable carbon isotope analyses after 16 months showed maximum shifts in δ13C of + 4.9 ± 0.22‰ for toluene, + 2.4 ± 0.19‰ for benzene and + 0.9 ± 0.51‰ for ethylbenzene, suggesting anaerobic degradation of these compounds in the source zone. Estimations of fluxes of inorganic carbon produced by biodegradation revealed that, in average, 60% of inorganic carbon production was attributable to sulfate reduction. This percentage tended to decrease with time while the production of carbon attributable to methanogenesis was increasing. Within the investigation time frame, mass balance estimations showed that biodegradation is a more efficient process for control of dissolved concentrations compared to pumping and filtration on an activated charcoal filter. - PublicationAccès libreBenzene dispersion and natural attenuation in an alluvial aquifer with strong interactions with surface water(2009)
;Batlle-Aguilar, Jordi ;Brouyère, Serge ;Dassargues, Alain ;Morasch, Barbara; ;Höhener, Patrick ;Diels, Ludo ;Vanbroekhoven, Karolien ;Seuntjens, PietHalend, HenriField and laboratory investigations have been conducted at a former coke plant, in order to assess pollutant attenuation in a contaminated alluvial aquifer, discharging to an adjacent river. Various organic (BTEX, PAHs, mineral oils) and inorganic (As, Zn, Cd) compounds were found in the aquifer in concentrations exceeding regulatory values. Due to redox conditions of the aquifer, heavy metals were almost immobile, thus not posing a major risk of dispersion off-site the brownfield. Field and laboratory investigations demonstrated that benzene, among organic pollutants, presented the major worry for off-site dispersion, mainly due to its mobility and high concentration, i.e. up to 750 mg L-1 in the source zone. However, benzene could never be detected near the river which is about 160 m downgradient the main source. Redox conditions together with benzene concentrations determined in the aquifer have suggested that degradation mainly occurred within 100 m distance from the contaminant source under anoxic conditions, and most probably with sulphate as main oxidant. A numerical groundwater flow and transport model, calibrated under transient conditions, was used to simulate benzene attenuation in the alluvial aquifer towards the Meuse River. The mean benzene degradation rate used in the model was quantified in situ along the groundwater flow path using compound-specific carbon isotope analysis (CSIA). The results of the solute transport simulations confirmed that benzene concentrations decreased almost five orders of magnitude 70 m downgradient the source. Simulated concentrations have been found to be below the detection limit in the zone adjacent to the river and consistent with the absence of benzene in downgradient piezometers located close to the river reported in groundwater sampling campaigns. In a transient model scenario including groundwater–surface water dynamics, benzene concentrations were observed to be inversely correlated to the river water levels, leading to the hypothesis that benzene dispersion is mainly controlled by natural attenuation.