The Remediation of Perchloroethylene Contaminated Groundwater by Nanoscale Iron Reactive Barrier Integrated with Surfactant and Electrokinetics

Abstract

In this study, nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles were synthesized and utilized to integrate with surfactant and electrokinetics for the remediation of perchloroethylene (PCE). The average particle diameter and specific surface area of the lab-synthesized iron particles were 109.3 nm and 129.7 m 2 g -1 , respectively. Experiments were performed in a glass sandbox to simulate the transport and degradation of PCE in the aquifer. The results of the transport tests revealed that the PCE concentrations at the bottom layer was higher than those at the mid and upper layers, and that the surfactant Tween 80 showed its conspicuous mobilization for PCE in the aquifer. As the results of the degradation tests showed, NZVI activity could be promoted by electrokinetics that enhanced the remediation performance of PCE contaminated groundwater by the NZVI reactive barrier. Chlorinated byproducts were not detected during the degradation tests, that is, PCE was completely dechlorinated by NZVI in the reactive barrier. The information collected from this study will be useful for further application of the NZVI reactive barrier system to remediate the aquifers contaminated by the chlorinated solvents.

Electrokinetics applied in remediation of subsurface soil contaminated with chlorinated ethenes – A review

“…PRB is most efficient when placed close to the anode due to the proton production aiding the reduction at the ZVI, and the acidic environment prevented the formation of iron oxides at the ZVI surfaces and thereby passivation (Chang and Cheng, 2006 ;Chen et al, 2010…”

An Injectable Apatite Permeable Reactive Barrier for In Situ 90Sr Immobilization

“…Researchers have studied various reactive materials, including zero-valent iron (Blowes and Ptacek 1992;Matheson and Tratnyek 1993;Borden et al 1997;Wilkin et al 2003), clinoptilolite (Park et al 2002;Seneca and Rabideau 2013), and various organic materials (Ahmad et al 2007;Robertson et al 2007). To eliminate limitations associated with excavation depth, researchers have also studied various injectable PRB technologies, including in situ reduction of iron present in the sediments (Istok et al 1999;Fruchter et al 2000) and injection of micron-and nano-scale zero-valent iron (Oostrom et al 2007;Chen et al 2010;Truex et al 2010;Beaulien and Ramirez 2013).…”

Dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene in water using stabilized nanoscale iron and palladized iron particles

“…But it was observed to reach about À860 mV for the test of dispersed 1:100 Pd/Fe at 30˚C. This might be attributed to the effect of CMC dispersant that improved the reduction capacity of Pd/Fe particles to PCE [12]. Because H + was continuously consumed, while PCE was degraded by NZVI and Pd/Fe according to Eq.…”

“…Therefore, many studies focusing on the improvement of ZVI capacity to degrade the chlorinated solvents have been developed [8][9][10][11]. Nanoscale ZVI (NZVI) particles with smaller particle sizes and larger specific surface area than commercial ZVI were synthesized to enhance the reactivity of Fe particles [12][13][14][15][16][17]. Wang and Zhang [17] prepared NZVI particles with a BET specific area of 33.5 m 2 g À1 to react with TCE and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).…”