Organic compounds removal in soil in a seven-needle-to-net pulsed discharge plasma system

•Pyrene and p-nitrophenol in soil could be degraded efficiently in a pulsed discharge plasma system.•Addition of Cr6+ and Kaolin had positive effect on the degradation of the pyrene and p-nitrophenol in the PDP system.

A pulsed discharge plasma (PDP) system (a seven-needle-to-net electrode geometry) was built to degrade pyrene and p-nitrophenol in soil. Pulse discharge time, contents of the pollutants in the soil, the initial pH value of the soil, Kaolin and Cr6+ addition on removal of pollutants was investigated. The obtained results show that 60 min was the better treatment time; removal of organic compounds decreased with the increase of the contents; removal of pyrene was higher at neutral pH condition, while p-nitrophenol has more oxidation in the basic soil; Kaolin and Cr6+ addition has positive effect on the organic compounds degradation.