Lars Rønn Bennedsen

Influence of chloride and carbonates on the reactivity of activated persulfate

Chloride and carbonates have the potential to impact pathway, kinetics, and efficiency of oxidation reactions, both as radical scavengers and as metal complexing agents. Traditionally, it is assumed that they have an overall negative impact on the activated persulfate performance. This study investigated the influence of carbonates and chloride on the reactivity of persulfate for three different activation techniques to produce reactive free sulfate radicals; heat, alkaline and iron activation. By using p-nitrosodimethylaniline as model target compound, it was demonstrated that iron activation at neutral pH was not affected by Cl(-) or HCO(3)(-), alkaline activation was enhanced by Cl(-) and even more by CO(3)(2-), and heat activation was enhanced by Cl(-), and no effect from HCO(3)(-) was observed. At pH 2 destruction of perchloroethylene by iron activated persulfate was significantly affected by chloride. Reaction rates decreased, but the overall oxidation efficiency was unaffected up to 28 mM Cl(-). The effect of chloride and carbonates is caused by direct attack of produced reactive chlorine, or carbonate species or by catalysis of the propagation reactions resulting in more sulfate radicals. These results show that carbonate and chloride might play an important role in activated persulfate applications and should not strictly be considered as scavengers.

Mobilization of metals during treatment of contaminated soils by modified Fenton's reagent using different chelating agents

Changes in pH and redox conditions and the application of chelating agents when applying in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) for remediation of contaminated sites can cause mobilization of metals to the groundwater above threshold limit values. The mechanisms causing the mobilization are not fully understood and have only been investigated in few studies. The present work investigated the mobilization of 9 metals from two very different contaminated soils in bench and pilot tests during treatment with modified Fentons reagent (MFR) and found significant mobilization of Cu and Pb to the water in mg/l levels. Also Fe, As, Mn, Ni, Zn, Mg, and Ca mobilization was observed. These findings were confirmed in a pilot test where concentrations of Cu and Pb up to 52.2 and 33.7 mg/l were observed, respectively. Overall, the chelating agents tested (EDTA, citrate and pyrophosphate) did not seem to increase mobilization of metals compared to treatment with only hydrogen peroxide and iron. The results strongly indicate that the mobilization is caused by hydrogen peroxide and reactive species including oxidants and reductants formed with MFR. Based on these results, the use of chelating agents for ISCO will not cause an increase in metal mobilization.

Development of a spectrophotometric method for on site analysis of peroxygens during in-situ chemical oxidation applications

Activated peroxygens are frequently used as active agents in in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) contaminated site remediation applications, and fast and simple quantitative analysis of these species on site is necessary. In this work, the use of a spectrophotometric method based on classic iodometric titration is studied for quantitative analysis of S2O8(2-) and H2O2. Instead of a back-titration step, the absorbance of the yellow iodide colour was measured at 352 nm in the presence of a bicarbonate buffer. A linear calibration curve was obtained from 0 to 0.1 mM for both S2O8(2-) and H2O2. By dilution, the method can be used for all concentrations typically applied in the field. Concerning pH dependence, neutral pH levels caused no significant error whereas pH levels above 8 caused a 9% and 6% deviation from the theoretical peroxygen concentrations. Furthermore, the method showed little dependence on other matrix components, and absorbance was stable (<2% change) for more than a week. Overall, the method proved to be fast and simple, which are important features for a field method.

In situ Chemical Oxidation: The Mechanisms and Applications of Chemical Oxidants for Remediation Purposes

Abstract Contamination of the subsurface by persistent organic contaminants remains a significant problem, even after decades of research on remediation. First, approaches focused on excavation, pump and treat via activated carbon, bioremediation, and natural attenuation. In the 1990s the first reports on in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) were published, which is a technique involving the introduction of chemical oxidants into the subsurface in order to transform contaminants into less harmful substances. Hydrogen peroxide was the first chemical oxidant investigated and used in full scale. Shortly after ozone and permanganate came into use. In the past few years persulphate has provided yet another option. In this chapter, the chemical reactions of the most common chemical oxidants used in ISCO are reviewed and the applicability of the two most relevant modified Fentons reagent and activated sodium persulphate are demonstrated using the Kaergaard Plantation megasite in Denmark as case study. This site represents one of the most difficult remediation challenges in Scandinavia and, therefore, regulatory agencies have been evaluating remediation techniques for source area remediation.