A developed soil column test device for measuring the electrical conductivity breakthrough curves

To obtain the breakthrough curves without efforts required in the sampling and chemical analysis, a new soil column test device was developed. The device can conduct time-continuous electrical conductivity (EC) measurements without disturbing the soil matrix at all stages of the test. This device is composed of soil column, channel selector, LCR meter, and data logger. The soil column employs three 4-electrode sensors installed at different positions. To verify its applicability, the electrical conductivity breakthrough curves at different distances have been obtained with the use of five different species influent solutions (KCl, NaCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂, and seawater). Results showed that the EC breakthrough curves and the transport parameters (the pore-water velocity, the dispersion coefficient, and the dispersivity) are very reasonable, and understand the one-dimensional steady flow exactly. The developed soil column test device proposed in this study provides a nondestructive, convenient, and inexpensive means of obtaining EC breakthrough curves.