Improvement in electrokinetic remediation of Pb-contaminated soil near lead acid battery factory

To improve the conventional electrokinetic remediation of Pb-contaminated soil,the Pb-contaminated soil near a lead acid battery factory in the Pearl River Delta region of China was electrokinetically remedied with polarity exchange technique.The variations in Pb removal efficiency and the soil p H value with the treatment time and the exchange polarity interval were determined.It is found that the removal efficiency of Pb reaches a maximum of 87.7% when the voltage gradient is 1 V/cm and the exchange polarity interval is 48 h.This value is far higher than that obtained with conventional electrokinetic remediation（61.8%）.Additionally,the ＂focusing effect＂ which appears in the conventional electrokinetic remediation can be avoided,and thus additional chemicals are not needed for the polarity exchange technique.The mechanism of Pb electromigration behavior in soil during the treatment with the polarity exchange technique was described.

Study on electrokinetic remediation of cadmium contaminated soils

Kaolinite from a lead-zinc mining district,which was spiked with cadmium,has been treated by electrokinetics to investigate effects of treatment time and applied voltage gradient.The results showed that the increased test duration had induced a higher removal rate of cadmium.Being treated for 7 days,cadmium was removed from kaolinite dramatically.It was also found that higher removal rate happened when a higher voltage gradient was applied and cadmium accumulated near the cathode because pH increased.Increase of pH near the cathode caused accumulation of cadmium.Moreover,it was observed that cation exchange membrane which was placed between kaolinite and cathode could make pH lower than the initial value and avoid the higher pH near the cathode.As a result,the high concentration accumulation of cadmium near the cathode was avoided.

Electrochemical remediation of copper contaminated kaolinite by conditioning anolyte and catholyte pH simultaneously

This report examined electrochemical remediation of copper contaminated kaolinite by controlling electrolytes′ pH for both of anolyte and catholyte simultaneously. Results showed that electrokinetic process and remediation efficiency varied obviously when different buffer systems, including citric acid (test 1), nitric acid + EDTA (test 2) and nitric acid (test 3), were used to control catholyte pH and Na_2CO_3 was used at the same time to control all anolyte one. It was found that under such pH condition soil′s pH in soil column kept at 3.0—7.0 successfully, and correspondingly no copper precipitation and decrease of soil electroconductivity appeared, which are usually observed in electrokinetic process due to OH - introduction into soil column by electrochemical reaction occurred in cathode. Electroosmosis flow rates were almost equal for these three tests, indicating that these buffers did not affect Zeta-potential of kaolinite within the examined duration. More acid and basic solution was added into electrokinetic cell when nitric acid was used as buffer than when nitric acid + EDTA and then citric acid were used. Due to introduction of large amounts of ions into soil column, significant higher current was observed for test 3 than other two. Analysis of copper speciation and total quantity in kaolinite indicated that 22.5%, 23.74% and 55.65% Cu were removed from kaolinite for test 1, test 2 and test 3 respectively after only 10 days′ electrokinetic remediation.

Electrokinetic removal of chromium and copper from contaminated soils by lactic acid enhancement in the catholyte

The electrokinetic removal of chromium and copper from contaminated soils by adding lactic acid in cathode chamber as an enhancing reagent was evaluated. Two sets of duplicate experiments with chromium contaminated kaolinite and with a silty soil sampled from a superfund site in California of USA and polluted by Cr and Cu, were carried out in a constant current mode. Changes of soil water content and soil pH before and after the electrokinetic experiments, and variations of voltage drop and electroosmosis flow during the treatments were examined. The results indicated that Cr, spiked as Cr(Ⅵ) in the kaolinite, was accumulated mainly in the anode chamber, and some of Cr and metal hydroxides precipitated in the soil sections in contact with the cathode, which significantly increased electrical energy consumption. Treatment of the soil collected from the site showed accumulation of large amounts of Cr and Cu in the anode chamber while none was detected in the cathode one. The results suggested that the two metals either complexed with the injected lactic acid at the cathode or existed as negatively charged complex, and electromigrated toward the anode under a voltage gradient.

Sorption, Desorption, Remediation and Fertility Characteristics of a Clay Soil

This study is conducted to investigate sorption and desorption characteristics of a clay soil of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Also, the soil fertility after the desorption tests was investigated. Sorption of copper by a clay soil was examined using copper solutions with concentrations from 1,000 mg/L to 5 mg/L. The influence of copper concentration and pH on desorption was also studied. Electrokinetic remediation was carried on soil specimen spiked with copper. Soil fertility parameters for specimens acidized by electrolysis reactions and nitric, hydrochloric, and citric acids were compared. From the results, the adsorption of copper by the soil is proportional to the concentration in the solution and Langmuir isotherm represents the data. Desorption of copper was found to increase with the increase of initial copper in the soil and the decrease ofpH. At pH of 5.75 -4- 0.25, the maximum desorption was 16.5% of initial copper and the minimum was 4.2%. In tests with similar copper concentrations, the maximum desorption was 76.6% in the test with pH of 2. Electrokinetics reduced the pH of soil near the anode to 2.1 and removed 86% of copper. Soil specimen acidized by electrolysis reactions preserved favourable fertility parameters compared with specimens acidized by acids.

Citric Acid-Enhanced Electroremediation of Toxic Metal-Contaminated Dredged Sediments： Effect of Open/Closed Orifice Condition, Electric Potential and Surfactant

Citric acid(CA), a widely used eco-friendly electrolyte, can be employed as an agent for enhancing toxic metal(TM) removal from contaminated dredged sediment using electrokinetic(EK) technology. In this study, dredged harbor sediments co-contaminated by TMs were subjected to enhanced EK treatment using a mixture of chelating agent(CA) and surfactant as an additive in the processing fluids. Several control conditions that may influence the efficiency of TM removal were tested, including open/closed sediment chamber orifices, electric potential gradients(0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 V cm^(-1)), and electrolyte surfactant. Tween 20(4 mmol L-1) was used as a surfactant within the electrolyte to investigate the extent of TM removal in sediment with high organic matter content. The results showed that an open orifice led to a greater electro-osmotic flow(EOF) with moderate TM removal. In contrast, a closed orifice with a nonionic surfactant electrolyte allowed the highest removal of TMs from the matrix. Moreover, increasing the electric potential gradient led to a higher EOF under the open orifice condition, but no significant increase in TM removal was observed owing to a higher accumulation of TMs in the middle of the matrix, caused by the opposite direction of EOF and electro-migration of metal-citrate complexes.