Fates of Aromatics Model (FOAM): description, application, and analysis

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 UTC 1983

OSTI ID:5856572

Bartell, S M; Gardner, R H; O'Neill, R V

This report describes a model developed to simulate the fate of individual PAH's in aquatic systems, summarizes current applications of the model, evaluates its precision for forecasting, and outlines future requirements for refinement of the model. The hypothesis is that the fate of PAH's can be forecast from fundemental, easily measured chemical characteristics of individual compounds. FOAM was implemented to forecast the transport and accumulation of anthracene in artificial streams. Molecular weight, melting point, octanol:water partition coefficient, and light absorption spectrum are descriptors that correlate with rate of processes that determine the fate of individual PAH's in aquatic systems. Results of the model evaluation, analyzed at several levels of component aggregation, demonstrate that the utility of FOAM for forecasting transport and accumulation of PAH's is a function of the required resolution of the forecasts. Predictions of time-varying anthracene concentrations in individual system components ranged in their precision over two orders of magnitude. Predictions of the relative distribution among water, sediments, and biota were more precise than estimates of anthracene in individual components. Models in the research phase at detailed levels of resolution might be sufficiently robust to forecast toxicant fate at more aggregated levels of system description. (DMC)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5856572
• Report Number(s): CONF-8306107-1; ON: DE83015519
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
ANTHRACENE
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONDENSED AROMATICS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
F CODES
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MELTING POINTS
MOLECULAR WEIGHT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
SEDIMENTS
SIMULATION
SPECTRA
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
WATER