Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Reduction of Contaminants
in Soil and Water By Direct
Electric Current
Sibel Pamukcu, Ehsan Ghazanfari, and Kenneth Wittle
2.1 Introduction
Applying a low direct current electrical field across a porous medium,
such as wet soil induces migration of ionic and surface charged constit-
uents and flow of the pore water to a directed location within the field.
Commonly referred to as “electrokinetics”, this process is a proven, sustain-
able technology that can transport water and substances residing in or near
the aqueous phase in clayey soil at a significantly higher rate than hydraulic
methods. Harmful heavy metal contaminants and radioactive materials,
as well as some immiscible fluids can thus be removed in-situ. The pro-
cess is especially useful in applications where pump-and-treat methods are
impractical due to the low permeability of the medium, or in cases where
the contaminants persist owing to their affinity to the solid phases in clay
soils. Moreover, the application of direct electric current in soils have been
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