Leaching tests are important laboratory tools that provide a method to determine the leachability and mobility of contaminants in the environment. Although a wide variety of leaching tests are available in the literature, few address the effect of oxidation/reduction reactions on contaminant release.
In the laboratory, reducing conditions have been studied using biological methods, chemical reducing agents, and electrolytic techniques. Electrolytic techniques involve applying an electrolytic potential in order to change the redox of the system and were chosen for this research in order to eliminate the use of chemical reducing agents and microorganisms.
The specific objectives of the research presented here were to: 1) develop an apparatus based on electrolytic techniques and 2) use the apparatus to determine the effect of time and varying potentials on changes in suspension pH, Eh, and constituent solubility. These objectives were met through two sets of studies: 1) preliminary studies using sampled-current voltammetry experiments consisting of cyclic potential sweeps and 2) electrolytic oxidation/reduction studies. Three different systems were used: 1) an iron(III) nitrate solution (test system), 2) an arsenic contaminated soil suspension (naturally oxidized system), and 3) a furnace slag suspension (naturally reduced system).
The electrolysis technique was shown to be capable of changing the bulk solution Eh, pH, and constituents concentrations. However, further research must be completed in order to further explore the capability of this method.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-07282006-144837 |
| Date | 29 July 2006 |
| Creators | Williams, Jennifer Lee |
| Contributors | David Kosson, Florence Sanchez |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-07282006-144837/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds