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GROUNDWATER AND SOIL REMEDIATION USING ELECTRICAL FIELD
Citation:
Chen, J. L., S R. AlAbed*, J A. Ryan*, AND Z. Li**. GROUNDWATER AND SOIL REMEDIATION USING ELECTRICAL FIELD. Chapter 26, Lipnick, R.L., Mason, R.P., Phillips, M.L., Pittman, Jr., C.U. (ed.), ACS Symposium Series 806: Chemicals in the Environment: Fate, Impacts and Remediation. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, , 434-448, (2001).
Description:
Enhancements of contaminants removal and degradation in low permeability soils by electrical fields are achieved by the processes of electrical heating, electrokinetics, and electrochemical reactions. Electrical heating increases soil temperature resulting in the increase of contaminant volatility and diffusivity and decrease of partitioning coefficients. The main electrokinetic phenomenons include electroosmosis and electromigration. Electroosmosis facilitates groundwater flow and transport of nonionic contaminants in low permeability regions while electromigration increases the removal efficiency of ionic contaminants from the regions. Electrochemical reaction utilizes high and low redox potentials at anode and cathode to oxidize or reduce contaminants, such as trichloroethylene (TCE), to less toxic forms. This article demonstrates the feasibility of reducing TCE to chloromethane at a granular graphite cathode. The results warrant further research to identify the degradation pathways and mechanisms.