Desorption kinetics of PCP-contaminated soil: effect of temperature.

A thermally enhanced pump-and-treatment method for pentachlorophenol (PCP)-contaminated soil and groundwater has shown potential advantages over the traditional pump-and-treatment method. Studies on the desorption kinetics of PCP from aquifer soil are the first step toward quantitative assessment of the newly proposed method. Five series of desorption batch tests were conducted at different temperatures, and the test results were analyzed by linear regression to determine the best-fit kinetic model for PCP desorbed from the contaminated field soil under all temperature conditions. The first-order kinetic model, parabolic diffusion model, and modified Freundlich model were discussed in linear regression work. A modified Freundlich model was found to describe the PCP desorption kinetics from soil in consideration of a temperature effect.