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U.S. Department of Energy
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Reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes by iron metal

Conference ·
OSTI ID:126345
;  [1]
  1. GE Corp. Research and Development, Schenectady, NY (United States)

Reduction of chlorinated ethenes in aqueous solution by iron metal was studied in batch and column systems under anaerobic and mildly aerobic conditions. The goal of this work was to gain a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the reaction chemistry and to determine the factors that affect dechlorination rate and long-term performance in groundwater treatment. Pseudo-first-order TCE, DCE and VC dechlorination rates and product mass balances (chloride ion and C2-C6 hydrocarbons) were measured for greater than twenty-five commercial iron metals. All experimental evidence was found to support a direct reduction mechanism in which electron transfer from Fe{sup o} to the adsorbed chloroethene occurs at the metal/water interface. XPS depth profile analysis was used to correlate Fe{sup o} surface concentration with observed dechlorination rates. A linear dependence of dechlorination rate on iron specific surface area was determined. Other factors that influence dechlorination rates will be discussed, including proton- and anion-promoted dissolution processes that remove surface iron oxides and yield new Fe{sup o} surfaces.

OSTI ID:
126345
Report Number(s):
CONF-950402--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English