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Contenido archivado el 2022-12-23

Enhanced electroremediation of radionuclide and heavy metal-contaminated soils and wastes

Objetivo

More then hundred thousand contaminated sites are estimated in Europe. Many former industrial sites contain highly toxic components such as heavy metals or radionuclides. Therefore in EC the potential for developing these sites together with the possibility that metals may leach into groundwater means that remediation of such land is a high priority.
The overall objective of this proposal is to develop new enhanced electroreclamation method to cleanup contaminated soils and wastes. Among different cleaning techniques in-situ soil remediation processes are normally thought to offer potential cost savings over more traditional dig and treat or pump and treat methods of clean up. Electrochemical soil processing is a primary emerging in-situ technology for extracting heavy metals and radionuclides from soils. The method is based on electromigration phenomena using low-level direct current between the electrodes, which can be installed in trenches around polluted sites or in batch installation (this means excavation of the soil or waste).
The approach to electroreclamation intensification, suggested in this project, is based on non-equilibrium electrosurface phenomena that appear at polarization of disperse systems, in particular, electrokinetic phenomena under non-stationary conditions and a newly discovered electroosmosis of the second kind, which were theoretically described and experimentally investigated by researchers of the Institute of Colloid and Water Chemistry - one of the participants of this project. Unipolar pulse current of strictly determined parameters decreases polarization processes of electrodes and soil and so enlarge electromigration processes.
Electromigration experiments on characteristic natural samples from different sites from EU and NIS with different speciation of the radioactive and heavy metal contamination will be conducted. Optimal pulse regime will be defined. The effectiveness of pulse regime will be investigated in presence of such reagents as HAc, EDTA and NTA, which are widely used in electroreclamation practice. Soils decontaminated by electroremediation will be analysed and tested with consideration of mobile element fractions, which are plant-available in general.
On the base of theoretical analysis the optimal parameters of electroremediation process (electric current, potential gradient and hydraulic flow) will be determined. Field demonstrations will be conducted on the contaminated site of the former industrial center in Ukraine.
The processes for toxic components removal from electrode solutions and for complexing agents regeneration after electroremediation will be defined.
As it was established the costs of traditional electroremediation processes were $ 90-130 per ton, which are comparable to if not lower than conventional remediation methods. The use of pulse technique will reduce the effective energy consumption needed to reach reference levels for dangerous toxicants and so will diminish the overall costs.



Convocatoria de propuestas

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Régimen de financiación

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Coordinador

National Council of Research
Aportación de la UE
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Dirección
7, Via Bolognola
00138 Roma
Italia

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Coste total
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Participantes (3)