Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of Metallic Iron Filters: Modeling Gone Astray

摘要

Since its introduction about 25 years ago, metallic iron (Fe 0 ) has shown its potential as the key component of reactive filtration systems for contaminant removal in polluted waters. Technical applications of such systems can be enhanced by numerical simulation of a filter design to improve, e.g., the service time or the minimum permeability of a prospected system to warrant the required output water quality. This communication discusses the relevant input quantities into such a simulation model, illustrates the possible simplifications and identifies the lack of relevant thermodynamic and kinetic data. As a result, necessary steps are outlined that may improve the numerical simulation and, consequently, the technical design of Fe 0 filters. Following a general overview on the key reactions in a Fe 0 system, the importance of iron corrosion kinetics is illustrated. Iron corrosion kinetics, expressed as a rate constant k iron , determines both the removal rate of contaminants and the average permeability loss of the filter system. While the relevance of a reasonable estimate of k iron is thus obvious, information is scarce. As a conclusion, systematic experiments for the determination of k iron values are suggested to improve the database of this key input parameter to Fe 0 filters.