Monitoring of the Transfer of Kerosene and Water through the Light Soil Contains Montmorillonite Nanoclay

Water and organic contaminant transport in soil porous media, particularly in light textured soils due to high transmission capacity and create a secondary sources of pollution is very important. The aim of this study was kerosene and water transport in a light texture soil system containing different treatments of montmorillonite nanoclay. For this purpose, treatments including 0, 2, 4 and 6 wt% of nano clay- sandy soil in a funnel containing filter paper based system was applied. Then kerosene and water (4 pore volumes alternatively) were passed into soils. The breakthrough curves showed that the water passes through soils was slower and gentler slope, so the volume output was lower compared to kerosene. It seems that water molecules with a diameter of less than 3.0 nm fitted well in the small spaces between the layer of nanoclay, which are held with strong hydrogen bonds. Kerosene, with a density equals 0.78, only attract surface places, therefore, pass from porous soil surface well due to having molecules with 11 to 15 carbon atoms, which are larger than the density of water. In both fluids, the more percentage of nanoclay there is, the more retention of kerosene and water would be expected. The results of X-ray showed that the distance of nanoclay increased from 14.4 to 24.77 Å with addition of water.