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Numerical simulation of microplastic permeation in soil: from solutes to particles
Summary
Researchers developed numerical simulations to predict breakthrough curves for microplastic permeation through soil, accounting for particle size relative to pore dimensions, flow dynamics, particle-media interactions, and potential pore clogging to model accumulation and transport in complex porous structures.
As plastic pollution escalates, investigating the permeation of microplastics in soil plays an important role in preventing soil contamination. Our objective is to precisely simulate and predict breakthrough curves of microplastic in soils. The complexity lies in accounting for microplastic particles whose size is comparable to pores, traversing soil comprising complex porous structures, ultimately accumulating and potentially obstructing pores. This entails addressing flow dynamics and interactions between microplastic particles and solid media as well as modelling chemical reactions and biological influences. Porous media data is obtained from artificially generated structures and high-resolution μCT-scans of real soil samples. To simulate the fluid, we use a Lattice-Boltzmann method, and resolve particle dynamics using the Immersed Boundary Method. The resulting breakthrough curves can be directly compared to corresponding experiments. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/556599/document
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