Electro-bioremediation of contaminated sediment by electrode enhanced capping

•Electrode enhanced capping is developed for remediation of PAH contaminated sediment.•ORP increases and pH drops around the anode reflecting water electrolysis.•Phenanthrene concentration decreases slowly with time in the vicinity of the anode.•The increase of PAH degrading genes provides microbial evidence.•A reaction-dominated region is created in the vicinity of the anode.

In-situ capping often eliminates or slows natural degradation of hydrocarbon due to the reducing conditions in the sediments. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate a reactive capping technique, an electrode enhanced cap, to produce favorable conditions for hydrocarbon degradation and evaluate this reactive capping technique for contaminated sediment remediation. Two graphite electrodes were placed horizontally at different layers in a cap and connected to external power of 2 V. Redox potentials increased and pH decreased around the anode. Phenanthrene concentration decreased and PAH degradation genes increased in the vicinity of the anode. Phenanthrene concentrations at 0–1 cm sediment beneath the anode decreased to ∼50% of initial concentration over ∼70 days, while phenanthrene levels in control reactor kept unchanged. A degradation model of electrode enhanced capping was developed to simulate reaction-diffusion processes, and model results show that a reaction-dominated region was created in the vicinity of the anode. Although the degradation dominated region was thin, transport processes in a sediment cap environment are typically sufficiently slow to allow this layer to serve as a permeable reactive barrier for hydrocarbon decontamination.

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