Nonideal equilibrium dissolution of trichloroethene from a decane-based nonaqueous phase liquid mixture: Experimental and modeling investigation

Batch equilibrium solubility studies were conducted to examine the solubilization behavior of a chlorinated solvent, trichloroethene (TCE), from a fuel‐based nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) mixture. An alkane (n–decane) was used as a model compound because it is often a primary compound in jet fuel. The NAPL phase mole fractions of the chlorinated solvent in the mixture (XTCEN) that were investigated are typical of in situ values found at industrial and military waste sites (0.0001 ≥ XTCEN ≤ 0.1). The measured aqueous concentrations of TCE were essentially equal to the concentrations predicted with ideal dissolution theory (Raoult's law) at XTCEN values near 0.1. However, the ratio of the measured concentration to the ideal concentration, or the NAPL phase activity coefficient (γNTCE), increased nonlinearly as the XTCEN decreased. The γTCEN approached 6 at XTCEN = 0.0001. The UNIFAC method greatly underpredicts the γTCEN in this surrogate fuel. A NAPL‐mixture equilibrium‐dissolution model was developed that incorporates the observed nonideal dissolution. This model indicates that nonideal NAPL dissolution is 4 times faster than ideal dissolution for a hypothetical NAPL mixture with an initial XTCEN = 0.001. The magnitude of this effect becomes more important as the initial value of the XTCEN is decreased.