Electrokinetic removal of 2,6-dichlorophenol and diuron from kaolinite and humic acid-clay system

Enhanced electrokinetic remediation (EKR) for heavy metal-contaminated sediments focusing on treatment of generated effluents from EKR and recovery of EDTA

Electrokinetic remediation (EKR) is one of the most successful remediation techniques to treat the sediments contaminated with heavy metals. EDTA is the most widely used enhancing agent to improve the transport process in EKR. But often the generated effluents from EKR contains a high concentration of heavy metals, which cannot be disposed of without treatment. The major objective of this study includes the estimation of optimal concentration of chelating agent EDTA, followed by treatment of contaminated sediments by EKR technique for heavy metal removal. The effluents generated from EKR were further studied for recovery and reuse of EDTA and for safe discharge of heavy metals. The optimum concentration of EDTA was found as 0.05 M with a solid-to-liquid ratio as 1:10. When fresh EDTA was used as enhancing agent the average removal of heavy metals obtained as 74.8% with EKR, whereas the application of recovered EDTA in treatment process in first, second, and third cycle showed the slight reduction of heavy metals of about 71.1%, 63.5%, and 52.1%, respectively. The heavy metal removal by recovered EDTA was effective in reduction of heavy metals up to three cycles of re-use while reducing the ecological risk in sediments. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Treatment of contaminated sediments with heavy metals achieved by electrokinetic remediation (EKR) technique enhanced with EDTA. The recovery of EDTA and heavy metal reduction from the generated effluents during EKR treatment were performed by the addition of FeCl₃ and Na₂ PO_4, and optimized concentration was evaluated. This study found that the use of recovered EDTA in EKR treatment has effectively reduced the risk associated with heavy metals.

Vermiculite as heterogeneous catalyst in electrochemical Fenton-based processes: Application to the oxidation of Ponceau SS dye

Modified sodium vermiculite, an iron-rich clay mineral, has been used in novel heterogeneous electrochemical Fenton-based treatments, so-called electro-Fenton (EF)-vermiculite, UVA photoelectro-Fenton (PEF)-vermiculite and solar photoelectro-Fenton (SPEF)-vermiculite. Tests were made with 130 mL of 0.150 mM Ponceau SS diazo dye in 0.050 M Na₂SO₄ at pH 3.0, in the presence of 1.0 g L^-1 catalyst microparticles. The electrolyses were performed in an undivided cell with a boron-doped diamond anode (BDD) and air-diffusion cathode for H₂O₂ production, at 33.3 mA cm^-2. Decolorization and mineralization were upgraded in the sequence: EF-vermiculite < PEF-vermiculite < SPEF-vermiculite. The removal of organics occurred by the combined action of OH oxidant formed at the BDD surface and homogeneous and heterogeneous Fenton's reactions, along with the photolysis caused by UVA light or sunlight. The homogeneous Fenton's reaction resulted from iron ions leaching, but the heterogeneous mechanism was prevalent. Comparative treatments by anodic oxidation in the presence of H₂O₂ and homogeneous EF were less effective than EF-vermiculite. The diazo dye absorbance decays agreed with a pseudo-first-order kinetics. SPEF-vermiculite was the most powerful process, yielding total decolorization and 84.1% mineralization after 300 and 360 min, respectively. The influence of catalyst concentration, current density and diazo dye content on PEF-vermiculite performance was examined. Oxalic, oxamic, malic, tartronic and acetic acids were detected as final short-linear carboxylic acids.

Advanced technologies for the remediation of pesticide-contaminated soils

The occurrence of pesticides in soil has become a highly significant environmental problem, which has been increased by the vast use of pesticides worldwide and the absence of remediation technologies that have been tested at full-scale. The aim of this review is to give an overview on technologies really studied and/or developed during the last years for remediation of soils contaminated by pesticides. Depending on the nature of the decontamination process, these techniques have been included into three categories: containment-immobilization, separation or destruction. The review includes some considerations about the status of emerging technologies as well as their advantages, limitations, and pesticides treated. In most cases, emerging technologies, such as those based on oxidation-reduction or bioremediation, may be incorporated into existing technologies to improve their performance or overcome limitations. Research and development actions are still needed for emerging technologies to bring them for full-scale implementation.

Treatment of synthetic urine by electrochemical oxidation using conductive-diamond anodes

In this work, the electrochemical oxidation of synthetic urine by anodic oxidation using boron-doped diamond as anode and stainless steel as cathode was investigated. Results show that complete depletion of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon (TOC) can be attained regardless of the current density applied in the range 20-100 mA cm(-2). Oxalic and oxamic acids, and, in lower concentrations, creatol and guanidine were identified as the main intermediates. Chloride ions play a very important role as mediators and contribute not only to obtain a high efficiency in the removal of the organics but also to obtain an efficient removal of nitrogen by the transformation of the various raw nitrogen species into gaseous nitrogen through chloramine formation. The main drawback of the technology is the formation of chlorates and perchlorates as final chlorine products. The increase of current density from 20 to 60 mA cm(-2) led to an increase in the rate of COD and TOC removals although the process becomes less efficient in terms of energy consumption (removals of COD and TOC after applying 18 Ah dm(-3) were 93.94 and 94.94 %, respectively, at 20 mA cm(-2) and 89.17 and 86.72 %, respectively, at 60 mA cm(-2)). The most efficient conditions are low current densities and high temperature reaching total mineralization at an applied charge as low as 20 kAh m(-3). This result confirmed that the electrolysis using diamond anodes is a very interesting technology for the treatment of urine.

Monitoring the effects of chelating agents and electrical fields on active forms of Pb and Zn in contaminated soil

The application of electrical fields and chelating agents is an innovative hybrid technology used for the decontamination of soil polluted by heavy metals. The effects of four center-oriented electrical fields and chelating agents on active fractions of lead and zinc were investigated in this pot experiment. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a synthetic chelator and cow manure extract (CME) and poultry manure extract (PME) as natural chelators were applied to the pots (2 g kg(-1)) 30 days after the first irrigation. Two weeks later, four center-oriented electrical fields were applied in each pot (in three levels of 0, 10, and 30 V) for 1 h each day for 14 days. The soil near the cathode and anodes was collected and analyzed as cathodic and anodic soil, respectively. Results indicated that the soluble-exchangeable fraction of lead and zinc were decreased in the cathodic soil, while the carbonate-bound fractions were increased. In the anodic soil, however, the opposite result was observed. EDTA enhanced the soluble-exchangeable form of the metals in both anodic and cathodic soils. Furthermore, the amounts of carbonate-bound heavy metals were increased by the application of CME in both soils. The organic-bound fraction of the metals was increased by the application of natural chelators, while electrical fields had no significant impacts on this fraction.

Electrokinetic remediation of organochlorines in soil: enhancement techniques and integration with other remediation technologies

Electrokinetic remediation has been increasingly used in soils and other matrices for numerous contaminants such as inorganic, organic, radionuclides, explosives and their mixtures. Several strategies were tested to improve this technology effectiveness, namely techniques to solubilize contaminants, control soil pH and also couple electrokinetics with other remediation technologies. This review focus in the experimental work carried out in organochlorines soil electroremediation, aiming to systemize useful information to researchers in this field. It is not possible to clearly state what technique is the best, since experimental approaches and targeted contaminants are different. Further research is needed in the application of some of the reviewed techniques. Also a number of technical and environmental issues will require evaluation for full-scale application. Removal efficiencies reported in real contaminated soils are much lower than the ones obtained with spiked kaolinite, showing the influence of other factors like aging of the contamination and adsorption to soil particles, resulting in important challenges when transferring technologies into the field.