| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 642624 | Separation and Purification Technology | 2011 | 6 Pages |
The soil of Almaden mining district in Spain has a high concentration of mercury (1000 mg kg−1), therefore decontamination activities are necessary. This paper studies the effectiveness of some chelant agents (thiosulfate, EDTA, iodide and HNO3) for the remediation of this soil which has been polluted for several millennia. The risk assessment of the contamination and the feasibility study (RA-FS) of the remediation were based on a standard sequential extraction procedure (SEP) together with lixiviation tests. Results obtained from these RA-FSs allow the prediction of the mercury removal reached in bench scale tests of the flushing technique.In addition the SEP was performed before and after treatments, and it was found that in some cases the remaining mercury concentration after treatment is associated to the more mobile fractions, indicating that additional treatments would be required. It also indicates that an important additional removal would be obtained if acid extraction is carried out after the first treatment.Finally, the reliability of the standard SEP used was tested to determine if the very high total metal concentration of this contaminated site affects the fractionation results. This was done by the repetition of each sequential extraction step before moving to the next one. Results indicate that both procedures give almost identical results for mercury but some important differences can be observed for iron.
Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights► The most effective chelants for mercury removal are iodide, EDTA, and thiosulfate. ► A lab method is developed for reliable assessment of the flushing technique. ► The reliability of the sequential extraction is checked against metal concentration.
