Treatment of Perchlorate-Contaminated Groundwater Using Highly Selective, Regenerable Ion-Exchange Technologies

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Environmental Science & Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/es0706910· OSTI ID:932082

Gu, Baohua ^[1]; Brown, Gilbert M ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Treatment of perchlorate-contaminated water using highly selective, regenerable ion-exchange and perchlorate-destruction technologies was demonstrated at a field site in California. Four treatment and four regeneration cycles were carried out, and no significant deterioration of resin performance was noted in two years. The bifunctional resin (Purolite A-530E) treated about 37,000 empty bed volumes (BVs) of groundwater before a significant breakthrough of perchlorate occurred at an average flow rate of 150 gpm (or 1 BV/min) and a feed perchlorate concentration of about 860 g/L. Sorbed perchlorate (~20 kg) was quantitatively recovered by eluting with as little as 1 BV of the FeCl3-HCl regenerant solution. The eluted ClO4- was highly concentrated in the third quarter of the first BV of the regenerant solution with a concentration up to 100,000 mg/L. This concentrated effluent greatly facilitated subsequent perchlorate destruction or recovery by precipitation as KClO4 salts. High perchlorate destruction efficiency (92 V97%) was observed by reduction with FeCl2 in a thermo-reactor, which enabled recycling of the FeCl3-HCl regenerant solution, thereby minimizing the need to dispose of secondary wastes containing ClO4-. This study demonstrates that a combination of novel selective, regenerable ion-exchange and perchlorate-destruction and/or recovery technologies could potentially lead to enhanced treatment efficiency and minimized secondary waste production.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Sponsoring Organization: ORNL work for others
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 932082
• Journal Information: Environmental Science & Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science & Technology Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 41
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CALIFORNIA
FIELD TESTS
GROUND WATER
ION EXCHANGE
ION EXCHANGE MATERIALS
PERCHLORATES
PERFORMANCE
REGENERATION
WATER TREATMENT