Dynamic behavior of electro-osmosis in variable charge soils: Insights on termination and direction reversal

Electro-osmosis offers an effective method for dewatering and remediating low permeability soil. Long-term observations on nonlinear behavior of electro-osmosis and the influencing factors are not commonly reported. Connection between cessation and direction reversal of electro-osmotic flow (EOF), and the evolution of electro-chemical parameters inside of the soil mass thus remains unclear. The dynamic response of EOF in variable charge soil could be significant, whereas the investigations on which are currently lacking. A series of electro-osmotic experiments were performed with two natural variable charge soils. The results indicated that initial electro-osmotic rate was positively proportional to electric current and initial electrical conductivity of the pore fluid, which could be explained by the ion migration model. The dynamic evolution of electro-osmotic rate and electro-chemical parameters corresponding to the solute and pH conditionings at the electrode compartments demonstrated that: 1) coupling effects of non-uniform distribution of voltage gradient and pH determined the magnitude and direction of EOF rate; 2) compared to the final pHIEP value, the bigger, close and smaller values of the novel index “voltage gradient weighed mean of spatial pH″ represented the forward, terminated and reversed EOF respectively; 3) the classical Helmholtz-Smoluchowski model are proved to be more applicable interpreting the coupled nonlinearity of electro-osmosis during the later steady phase. This work would facilitate future research for a comprehensive electro-osmotic model, and provide guidance to condition the initial and boundary conditions in application of electro-osmotic dewatering and electrokinetic remediation. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd