Electroremediation of a natural soil polluted with phenanthrene in a pilot plant.

Abstract

In this work, a pilot plant with two rows of three electrodes in semipermeable electrolyte wells was used to study the electrokinetic treatment of a natural soil polluted with phenanthrene (PHE). The electrokinetic pilot plant was an open system, i.e., there was direct contact between the soil and air. To increase the solubility of phenanthrene, thereby enhancing its transport through the soil, an aqueous solution of the anionic surfactant dodecyl sulfate was used as a flushing fluid. The results show that at the pilot scale considered, gravity and evaporation fluxes are more relevant than electrokinetic fluxes. Contrary to observations at the laboratory scale, desorption of PHE promoted by electric heating appears to be a significant removal mechanism at the pilot scale. In addition, PHE is dragged by the electroosmotic flow in the cathodic wells and by electrophoresis after interaction of the surfactant with phenanthrene in the anodic wells. In spite of the long treatment time (corresponding to an energy consumption over 500kWhm(-3)), the average removal attained was only 25%.

• Authors: R López-Vizcaíno, J Alonso, P Cañizares, M J León, V Navarro, M A Rodrigo, C Sáez
• Journal: Journal of hazardous materials (J Hazard Mater) Vol. 265 Pg. 142-50 (Jan 30 2014) ISSN: 1873-3336 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 24361491 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Phenanthrenes
• Soil Pollutants
• Surface-Active Agents
• Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate
• phenanthrene
• dodecyl sulfate

Topics

• Adsorption
• Electrochemical Techniques
• Electrodes
• Environmental Restoration and Remediation (methods)
• Hot Temperature
• Kinetics
• Phenanthrenes (chemistry)
• Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (chemistry)
• Soil Pollutants (chemistry)
• Surface-Active Agents (chemistry)