Fernando Vicente

In situ oxidation remediation technologies: Kinetic of hydrogen peroxide decomposition on soil organic matter

Rates of hydrogen peroxide decomposition were investigated in soils slurries. The interaction soil-hydrogen peroxide was studied using a slurry system at 20 degrees C and pH 7. To determine the role of soil organic matter (SOM) in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, several experiments were carried out with two soils with different SOM content (S1=15.1%, S2=10%). The influence of the oxidant dosage ([H2O2](o) from 10 to 30 g L(-1) and soil weight to liquid phase volume ratio=500 g L(-1)) was investigated using the two calcareous loamy sand soil samples. The results showed a rate dependency on both SOM and hydrogen peroxide concentration being the H2O2 decomposition rate over soil surface described by a second-order kinetic expression r(H2O2) = -dn(H2O2) / W(SOM) dt = kC(H2O2) C(SOM). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to evaluate the effect caused by the application of this oxidant on the SOM content. It was found a slightly increase of SOM content after treatment with hydrogen peroxide, probably due to the incorporation of oxygen from the oxidant (hydrogen peroxide).

Chemical oxidation of 2,4-dimethylphenol in soil by heterogeneous Fenton process

Hydrogen peroxide has been used to oxidize a sorbed aromatic contaminant in a loamy sand with 195.9 g kg(-1) of organic carbon by using iron as catalyst at 20 degrees C. The 2,4-dimethylphenol (2,4-DMP) was chosen as pollutant. Because of this soil generates a slightly basic pH in contact to an aqueous phase the solubility of the iron cation was determined in absence and presence of a chelating agent (l-ascorbic acid, l-Asc) and with and without soil. From results, it was found that in presence of soil the iron cation was always adsorbed or precipitaed onto the soil. Therefore, the procedure selected for soil remediation was to add firstly the iron solution used as catalyst and following the hydrogen peroxide solution used as oxidant. As iron cation is sorbed onto the soil before the oxidant reagent is provided a heterogeneous catalytic system results. This modified Fenton runs have been carried out using 0.11 mg(2,4-DMP) g(-1)(soil) and 2.1 mg(Fe) g(-1)(soil). The H(2)O(2)/pollutant weight ratios used were 182 and 364. The results show that H(2)O(2) oxidizes 2,4-DMP producing CO(2) and acetic acid. After 20 min of reaction time a pollutant conversion of 75% and 86% was found, depending on the H(2)O(2) dosage. Moreover, it was found that hydrogen peroxide was heterogeneously decomposed by the soil (due to its organic and/or inorganic components) and its decomposition rate decreases when the iron was previously precipitated-impregnated into the soil.

Enhancing p-cresol extraction from soil.

Soil washing is a potential technology for rapid removal of organic hydrocarbons sorbed to soils. In this work, p-cresol desorption with different non-ionic surfactants (Tween 80, Brij 30 and Triton X-100) was compared to cyclodextrine and citrate as solubilizer. A series of batch extraction experiments were conducted at 20°C using the field soil with different extracting solutions at various concentrations to investigate the removal efficiency and to optimize the concentration of the extractant. The use of the different extracting agents was very selective to p-cresol extraction, minimizing soil organic matter releasing and maintaining the natural pH of the soil. The highest asymptotic values of desorption percentages were obtained for Tween 80 and Brij 30 at 48 h. However, Brij 30 ecotoxicity (EC(50)=0.5 mgL(-1)) is in the same order of that obtained for p-cresol, being this surfactant clearly ruled out. Liquid to solid ratio of 2.5 mLg(-1) presented the best extraction results, while concentrations higher than 1 gL(-1) for Tween 80 and Citrate did not produce any significant effect on the desorption efficiency. p-Cresol extraction efficiencies higher than 70% and 60% for Tween 80 and Citrate, respectively.