Some factors controlling the adsorption of potassium ions on clayey soils

The adsorption of contaminants is one of the key mechanisms governing the transport of contaminants in the clay liner at landfill sites. This study presents an investigation of some factors controlling the adsorption of potassium (K+) onto two soils, named Ariake clay and Akaboku soil. The KCl solution and multi-salt solution containing KCl, NaCl and CaCl2 were selected as the synthetic leachates. The results show that with the increase of the solid/solution ratio, the adsorbed amount of K+ decreased for both soils. This dependence of adsorption behavior on the solid/solution ratio was found more significant for the Ariake clay. Both soils arrived an equilibrium condition in short time less than the contact time prescribed by the ASTM and US EPA standard batch-type tests. It was observed that both soils adsorbed larger amount of K+ in the case of KCl solution condition than in the case of multi-salt condition.