Electrokinetic soil remediation: Advances and process enhancement
- Lynntech, Inc., College Station, TX (United States); and others
Electrokinetic remediation is an in situ emerging technology that offers potential cost and process benefits for contaminated soil treatment. The innovative approach under development at Lynntech, Inc. is based on the application of nonhomogeneous pulsed DC or AC electric fields with the objective to maximize rates of contaminant removal. The process combines several DC and AC electrokinetic phenomena occurring in soil when pulsed electric fields are applied across the electrodes positioned in the soil and utilize them for an enhanced contaminant removal from soil. Removal of contaminants is achieved by: (i) electroosmotic pore fluid flow; (ii) electromigration of anionic and cationic contaminants towards electrode wells, where they can be removed by electrodeposition, and, (iii) dielectrophoretically induced pore fluid flow and migration of charged and noncharged contaminants through the soil. Successful combination of DC and AC electrokinetic phenomena in soil presents a basis for an enhanced electrokinetic process for removal of both charged and noncharged contaminants from soil. The process utilizes an electrochemically produced acid in the anode well which propagates through the soil and solubilizes heavy metal ions in the pore fluid. An appropriate leachant. which depends on the type of soil and heavy metal contaminant, is electrokinetically delivered and distributed in soil to further enhance solubilization and mobilization of heavy metal contaminants through the soil. It can be efficiently combined with other existing in situ contaminated soil treatment processes, e.g. bioremediation, soil extraction and soil washing. A field scale study is initiated in 1995 and preliminary results will be described.
- OSTI ID:
- 210418
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9509139--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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