| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4429280 | Science of The Total Environment | 2012 | 6 Pages |
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are persistent and toxic contaminants which are difficult to remove from fine porous material like clayey soils. The present work aims at studying two electroremediation techniques for the removal of PAHs from a spiked natural silt soil from Saudi Arabia and a silty loam soil from The Netherlands which has been exposed to tar contamination for over 100 years. The two techniques at focus are electro-osmosis and electrodialysis. The latter is applied for the first time for the removal of PAH. The efficiency of the techniques is studied using these two soils, having been subjected to different PAH contact times.Two surfactants were used: the non-ionic surfactant Tween 80 and anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) to aid desorption of PAHs from the soil. Results show a large discrepancy in the removal rates between spiked soil and long-term field contaminated soil, as expected. In spiked soil, electro-osmosis achieves up to 85% while electrodialysis accomplishes 68% PAH removal. In field contaminated soil, electro-osmosis results in 35% PAH removal whereas electrodialysis results in 79%. Short recommendations are derived for the up-scale of the two techniques.
► PAHs are persistent and ubiquitous contaminants with difficult removal from clays. ► Electroremediation techniques (electro-osmosis and electrodialysis) may be a solution. ► Electrodialysis is used here for the first time to study the removal of PAH from soil. ► Removal efficiencies varied between 35 and 85%. ► Results show high discrepancies in PAH removal on spiked and field contaminated soils.
