Stabilization of PFAS-contaminated soil with activated biochar

Sørmo, Erlend; Silvani, Ludovica; Bjerkli, Nora; Hagemann, Nikolas; Zimmerman, Andrew R.; Hansen, Caroline Berge; Hartnik, Thomas; Cornelissen, Gerard

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144034

Cited by 66 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…A few treatment and remediation approaches have been investigated for removing PFAS from contaminated water and soil, including solvent flushing, photocatalytic degradation, − sequestration, , ball milling, electrochemical approaches, , and hydrothermal methods. , The remediation efficiency, however, may be strongly influenced by the concentration of PFAS in the treated media and the properties (e.g., functionality and chain length) of PFAS. PFAS are relatively difficult to remove from soil by conventional physical and chemical means.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

et al. 2022

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In this study, we found that thermal decomposition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil was rapid at moderate temperatures of 400–500 °C, regardless of whether the soil was contaminated by a single PFAS compound or a PFAS mixture in aqueous film-forming foams. Substantial degradation (>99%) of PFAS in soil, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), short-chain homologues, cationic and zwitterionic precursors, and PFOA and PFOS alternatives, occurred in 30 min at 500 °C in both a sealed reactor in air and a horizontal reactor under a continuous flow of N2. The effect of the initial PFAS level in soil (0.001–10 μmol/g) and soil texture was insignificant, provided a sufficiently high temperature was applied. Furthermore, this study showed, for the first time, that kaolinite dramatically decreased the apparent yield of F from PFAS heated at >300 °C, likely due to the chemisorption of F radicals on kaolinite. This phenomenon was not observed when kaolinite and an inorganic fluoride salt (NaF) were thermally treated. Lastly, various nonpolar thermal degradation products of PFOA and PFOS were reported for the first time. The profile of fluorinated volatiles, particularly perfluoroalkenes, was similar between these two chemicals. The results support a radical-mediated degradation pathway of PFAS.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

et al. 2022

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“…Different materials have been used as fixation agents for PFAS treatment, such as natural clays and clay-biochar composites (Mukhopadhyay et al, 2021;Yao et al, 2014), various biochars (Kupryianchyk et al, 2016;Sørmo et al, 2021), and activated carbons (Du et al, 2014;Sorengard et al, 2019). Activated carbons come in various forms based on grain size, typically as granular (GAC, 0.4-1.2 mm) or powdered activated carbon (PAC, <1 mm).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) retention by colloidal activated carbon (CAC) using dynamic column experiments

Niarchos

Ahrens

Kleja

et al. 2022

Environmental Pollution

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“…The resulting gases and oil vapors during pyrolysis were removed and the resulting biochar (36%-45%) adsorbed more than 80% of longchain PFAS and up to 27% for short-chain PFAS from PFAScontaminated water. Similarly, a study by Sormo et al (2021) showed that biochar produced by the pyrolysis of waste timber sorbed to the PFAS from contaminated soil, and some of the PFAS could no longer be detected in the soil. This study implied that the adsorption ability of the biochar was proportional to the PFAS carbon chain length, that is, PFAS containing higher number of carbons were sorbed more by the biochar than PFAS with a lower number of carbons.…”

Section: Pyrolysis and Gasificationmentioning

confidence: 97%

EPA's detection methods, the drinking water treatability database, and innovative technologies for PFAS remediation

Kuzniewski¹

2022

Remediation Journal

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Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of highly fluorinated, aliphatic chemicals detected throughout the environment, including in human serum.Several regulatory milestones have been achieved in the United States for these environmentally toxic chemicals linked to health problems in humans, the latest one being the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) PFAS Strategic Roadmap necessitating detection and remediation of PFAS. This article, in addition to briefly discussing these regulatory milestones, evaluates the EPA's detection methods for PFAS including EPA Methods 533, 537.1, and 8327 and other methods currently under development such as the total organic fluorine (TOF) and total organic precursor (TOP) methods. The article also mentions the methods used by other federal agencies for PFAS quantitation. The EPA's drinking water treatability database (TDB) is also described along with the advantages and challenges of the effective treatment methods for PFAS. Most of these treatment methods in the EPA's drinking water TDB face the challenge of disposing wastes containing PFAS, an issue not faced by innovative technologies, and some of these innovative technologies are also discussed. This article will help to understand the current status on the detection and remediation technologies for PFAS treatment in soil and water. It is imperative to have these technologies ready to assist with the remediation objectives in the PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

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Stabilization of PFAS-contaminated soil with activated biochar

Cited by 66 publications

References 67 publications

An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

An Investigation of Thermal Air Degradation and Pyrolysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams in Soil

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) retention by colloidal activated carbon (CAC) using dynamic column experiments

EPA's detection methods, the drinking water treatability database, and innovative technologies for PFAS remediation

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