A simple method for the determination of deposition coefficient using the analytical solution of advection-dispersion-deposition equation for step input

A simple method is proposed for the determination of the deposition coefficient, which plays an important role in bacterial transport in a porous media. The method relies on the analytical solution of an advection-dispersion-deposition equation for the step input of a bacterial solution. The step input solution can be simplified when time goes to infinity, and thereby the deposition coefficient can be obtained as a function of the maximum concentration and peclet number. The deposition coefficient given by the simple method yields a similar expression to those of previous studies with a slight modification. Comparison of the simple method with other methods revealed that it offers an advantange of a wider application, even to a square pulse input as well as step input of a bacterial solution, and that calculation of bacterial mass fraction is not required. Theoretical validation revealed that the method can be valid for the conditions of pulse duration greater than 0.8 pore volume in the column study with Pe 300-400.