Sorption characteristics of partially soluble hydrocarbons (Toluene, Naphthalene and Xylene) on various adsorbent materials have been investigated at 40 °C to facilitate the development of a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) to treat oil-contaminated surface and sub-surface waters in cold regions. Inverse modelling has been utilized using the computer program CXTFIT to determine the variable parameters, axial dispersion coefficient and porosity. A set of partial differential equations was solved to describe the solute flow with appropriate initial and boundary conditions in order to develop a model to predict the future PRB and its performance in the field. The results indicated that the sorption capacity of the reactive media in fixed bed is only up to 35-63 % of the equilibrium sorption capacity. It was also found that the ADRE equation using Freundlich isotherms can best predict the column behaviour.
