Selective removal of chlorinated organic compounds from soil flushing emulsions: Adsorbent regeneration with thermal-activated persulfate and surfactant recovery
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2023
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Elsevier
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Sánchez-Yepes, Andrés, Aurora Santos, Arturo Romero, y David Lorenzo. «Selective Removal of Chlorinated Organic Compounds from Soil Flushing Emulsions: Adsorbent Regeneration with Thermal-Activated Persulfate and Surfactant Recovery». Journal of Water Process Engineering 57 (enero de 2024): 104644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2023.104644.
Abstract
Hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) released into the environment can form nonaqueous phase liquids, contaminating soil and groundwater. Surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation, followed by extracting a highly contaminated emulsion comprising surfactants and contaminants, is a promising technology for remediating polluted sites. However, the sustainable treatment of the emulsion is crucial. This study presents a two-step method for treating emulsions containing HOCs and surfactants. Firstly, pollutants are selectively adsorbed onto granular activated carbon (GAC) in a column. Secondly, spent GAC is regenerated by oxidizing adsorbed pollutants using persulfate activated at 60 ◦C. The emulsion was obtained from surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation at a polluted site with lindane production waste, consisting of E-Mulse® 3 surfactant (12 g L− 1 ) and 28 chlorinated organic compounds (COCs) at a concentration of 9.1 gCOCs L− 1 . Selective adsorption of COCs was observed since the adsorption kinetic constant was much higher than the E3, being 31.60 and 1.76 gGAC− W⋅mg− 1 j ⋅ h− 1 respectively. The adsorption-regeneration cycle was repeated three times. It was found that the GAC adsorbed 90 mgCOCs⋅gGAC − 1 were constant after four cycles (70 % of the COCs adsorption capacity in the first step). The surfactant adsorption decreased by approximately 80 % from 108 to 26 mgE3 gGAC − 1 after the third cycle, enabling surfactant recovery from the emulsion. In addition, the remaining amount of persulfate increased from 24 to 39 %, reducing oxidant consumption. Finally, the water effluent obtained after regeneration showed reduced toxicity due to the generation of nontoxic by-products, such as short-chain acids and sulphates. The results obtained proved the GAC-based adsorption/regeneration process was effective and stable over multiple cycles.
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2023 Acuerdo transformativo financiado por la CRUE