Return to search

Application of in situ chemical oxidation technology to remediate chlorinated-solvent contaminated groundwater

Groundwater at many existing and former industrial sites and disposal areas is contaminated by halogenated organic compounds that were released into the environment. The chlorinated solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) is one of the most ubiquitous of these compounds. In situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) has been successfully used for the removal of TCE. The objective of this study was to apply the ISCO technology to remediate TCE-contaminated groundwater. In this study, potassium permanganate (KMnO4) was used as the oxidant during the ISCO process. The study consisted bench-scale and pilot-scale experiments. In the laboratory experiments, the major controlling factors included oxidant concentrations, effects of soil oxidant demand (SOD) on oxidation efficiency, and addition of dibasic sodium phosphate on the inhibition of production of manganese dioxide (MnO2). Results show that higher molar ratios of KMnO4 to TCE corresponded with higher TCE oxidation rate under the same initial TCE concentration condition. Moreover, higher TCE concentration corresponded with higher TCE oxidation rate under the same molar ratios of KMnO4 to TCE condition. Results reveal that KMnO4 is a more stable and dispersive oxidant, which is able to disperse into the soil materials and react with organic contaminants effectively. Significant amount of MnO2 production can be effectively inhibited with the addition of Na2HPO4. Results show that the increase in the first-order decay rate was observed when the oxidant concentration was increased, and the half-life was approximately 24.3 to 251 min. However, the opposite situation was observed when the second-order decay rate was used to describe the reaction. Results from the column experiment show that the breakthrough volumes were approximately 50.4 to 5.06 pore volume (PV). Injection of KMnO4 would cause the decrease in TCE concentration through oxidation. Results also indicate that the addition of Na2HPO4 would not inhibit the TCE removal rate. In the second part of this study, a TCE-contaminated site was selected for the conduction of pilot-scale study. A total of eight remediation wells were installed for this pilot-scale study. The initial TCE concentrations of the eight wells were as follows: C1 = 0.59 mg/L, C1-E = 0.64 mg/L, C1-W = 0.61 mg/L, EW-1 = 0.65 mg/L, EW-1E = 0.62 mg/L, EW-1W = 0.57 mg/L, C2 = 0.62 mg/L, C3 = 0.35 mg/L. C1, EW-1, C2, and C3 were located along the groundwater flow direction from the upgradient (C1) to the downgradient location (C3), and the distance between each well was 3 m. C1-E and C1-W were located in lateral to C1 with a distance of 3 m to C1. EW-1E and EW-1W were in lateral to EW-1 with a distance of 3 m to EW-1. In the first test, 2,700 L of KMnO4 solution was injected into each of the three injection wells (C1, C1-E, and C1-W) with concentration of 5,000 mg/L. Three injections were performed with an interval of 6 hr between each injection. After injection, the TCE concentrations in those three wells dropped down to below detection limit (<0.0025 mg/L). However, no significant variations in TCE concentrations were observed in other wells. In the second test, 2,700 L of KMnO4 solution was injected into injection well (EW-1) with concentration of 5,000 mg/L. Six injections were performed with an interval of 6 hr between each injection. After injection, the TCE concentrations in the injection well dropped down to below detection limit (<0.0025 mg/L). TCE concentrations in (C1, C1-E, C1-W, EW-1E, EW-1W, C2, and C3) dropped to 0.35-0.49 mg/L. After injection, no significant temperature and pH variation was observed. However, increase in conductivity and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) was observed. This indicates that the KMnO4 oxidation process is a potential method for TCE-contaminate site remediation. The groundwater conductivity increased from 500 £gS/cm to 1,000 £gS/cm, and ORP increased from 200 to 600 mv. Increase in KMnO4, MnO2, and total Mn was also observed in wells. Results from the slug tests show that the hydraulic conductivity remained in the range from 10-4 to 10-5 m/sec before and after the KMnO4 injection.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0822110-200245
Date22 August 2010
CreatorsWen, Yi-ting
ContributorsTzai-Tang Tsai, Chih-Ming Kao, Yue-Hui Lin, Chenju Liang
PublisherNSYSU
Source SetsNSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive
LanguageCholon
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0822110-200245
Rightsnot_available, Copyright information available at source archive

Page generated in 0.0021 seconds