Abstract
[Truncated] This study has been motivated by the discovery of an ex-laboratory site contaminated with 1,1,2,2-tetrabromoethane (TBE), and its daughter products: tribromoethane (TriBE), cis- and trans-1,2-dibromoethene (DBE) and vinyl bromide (VB) on the Swan Coastal Plain, in Perth, Western Australia. These compounds are not well understood or widely researched. The purpose of this study was to gain further knowledge of degradation rates and pathways of TBE and daughter compounds under different geochemical conditions, in order to asses the fate of these compounds in soil and groundwater environments.
Investigation of sorption of TriBE, DBE and VB, showed that the transport of these compounds would not be significantly retarded in a contaminated plume. Natural attenuation of TriBE followed a combination of β-elimination, dominant in the initial stages, and hydrogenolyisis, dominating in the later stages of the reaction. Rates for TriBE, cis- and trans-DBE and VB natural attenuation were low, 96, 390, 230 and 240 days respectively. This reaction pathway, for a batch system, was successfully modelled using PHREEQC-2 (Parkhurst and Appello, 1999).
Investigation of sorption of TriBE, DBE and VB, showed that the transport of these compounds would not be significantly retarded in a contaminated plume. Natural attenuation of TriBE followed a combination of β-elimination, dominant in the initial stages, and hydrogenolyisis, dominating in the later stages of the reaction. Rates for TriBE, cis- and trans-DBE and VB natural attenuation were low, 96, 390, 230 and 240 days respectively. This reaction pathway, for a batch system, was successfully modelled using PHREEQC-2 (Parkhurst and Appello, 1999).
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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| Publication status | Unpublished - 2006 |
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