Development of a plant uptake model for cyanide

A model for cyanide species uptake by willow (Salix eriocephala L. var. Michaux) was developed to interpret data from hydroponic experiments quantitatively. While the potential for cyanide phytoremediation has been demonstrated modeling will aid in determining plant processes that contribute to cyanide transport and metabolism in willow and will target specific physiological parameters for field-scale phytoremediation design and optimization. The objective of the model development was to gain insight into the relative role of different processes with respect to dissolved free and iron-complexed cyanide transport and assimilation in plants and to determine rates at which these processes occur within the willow plant under the experimental conditions. A physiologically-based model describing plant uptake, transport, and metabolism of cyanide species was developed to reflect the processes that influence the movement of cyanide into and throughout the plant. Plant compartmentalization (root, stem, and leaf) corresponded to the level of detail in the data collected via hydroponic experiments. Inclusion of more detailed intra- and intercellular processes would create a model inconsistent with the macroscale nature of the data. Mass balances around each compartment were developed via kinetic representations for the mass transfer processes and were combined to form a model describing the fate of cyanide species within plant-water systems.