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Abstract
The remediation of clay soil contaminated with lead nitrate has been investigated in details
by using the electrokinetic technique enhanced by using purging solutions, mid
compartment, and washing technique. The intact soil samples are obtained from Al-Ahdab
oil field located in the southeast of Iraq. The soil samples are contaminated synthetically
with two different percentages of lead nitrate (6.67 and 20 g/kg) and kept for 30 days. The
mid compartment is used to reduce the existing paths of contaminants from the soil.
Purging solutions in the anode, mid, and cathode compartments are used to control the pH
value, while the activated carbon is used to prevent the reverse electroosmotic flow from
cathode to anode. The main results of electrokinetic experiments, such as variations of
electrical current and pH with time, and the accumulated volume of electroosmotic flow are
presented and discussed. It was shown that increasing of the concentration of lead causes
increase of the electrical current generated during the remediation process. As a
consequence, the intensity of chemical reactions occurring in the anode, mid, and cathode
compartments are also increased. The removal efficiency of lead from soil samples ranged
between 12.4 and 21 %. The washing process is found beneficial in reducing the period of
remediation but does not affect the removal efficiency.
Keywords
Heavy metals; lead; contaminated soil; soil remediation; washing; electrokinetic
Introduction
The contamination of soil is a significant problem that was increased in recent years because of
development of industrial, agricultural, and military activities. Heavy metals (HMs) are considered
as the major contaminants which have diverse effects on geotechnical properties of soil. The effects
of contaminants depend on several factors such as their mobility and chemical activity in the soil,
especially when the content of contaminants is above certain levels [1,2]. HMs usually adhere to the
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soil particles and thus become immobile. This process is called sorption and describes the distribution
of HMs between the solid and pores solution. Contamination of soil with HMs causes reduction of
shear strength parameters of soil. Also, contamination of soil with HMs leads to increased
compressibility and maximum dry density, but decreased optimum moisture content and permeability
of soil [1]. Costs and removal efficiency are the major factors in selection of the remediation technique
for removing contaminants from the soil. Also, sites contaminated with more than one type of
contaminants require more than one type of remediation technique that should be applied
simultaneously or in a sequence. Generally, the process of removing HMs from the soil is considered
difficult, because the metals are not biodegradable or soluble in water, except mercury and selenium
which could degrade and volatilize by microorganisms. The electrokinetic method (EK) has already
been found suitable for the remediation of low permeability contaminated soils through applying DC
current between two electrodes installed in the medium. There are generally three phenomena
occurring during the EK process: electroosmosis, electromigration and electrophoresis [3].
The removal efficiency of HMs from a soil depends on several factors such as the type and
composition of HM in the soil matrix and the type of soil [4,5]. During the EK process, the electrolysis
occurs at the electrodes, generating hydrogen ions at the anode and hydroxide ions at the cathode
[6,7]. The hydrogen ions move from the anode toward cathode while hydroxide ions move from the
cathode toward anode. The advance of the acid fronts is faster than advance of the basic front
migration, because the mobility of H+ is greater than OH- for about 1.76 times [8]. Only few studies,
however, investigated effects of HMs on geotechnical properties of the soil. Li et al. [9] studied the
removal efficiency of cadmium (II), lead (II), and chromium (III) from a sandy soil. They used a
conductive solution to separate the soil and cathode compartments, in order to enhance the
removal efficiency which can be higher than 90 %. Reddy and Chinthamreddy [4] studied the effects
of different purging solutions on removal efficiency of HMs from the soil contaminated with
different percentages of Cr, Ni, and Cd. The removal efficiency of contaminants was found very low
when the tap water was used as a purging solution, but increased when 1 M of acetic acid and 0.1
M of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid were used as the purging solution in the cathode
compartment. The maximum removal efficiency was obtained when water was used as a purging
solution at the beginning of the test in anode and cathode compartments, being followed by using
acetic acid as the purging solution in the cathode and NaOH solution in the anode compartments.
Jensen et al. [10] demonstrated that soils with high content of carbonate compounds produced
negative effects on the removal efficiency of lead from the soil. Karkush and Altaher [7] studied the
remediation of the clayey soil contaminated with several concentrations of total petroleum
hydrocarbons by using washing-enhanced electrokinetic technique. The purging solution used to
enhance EK consisted of 30 % of ethanol and 70 % of deionized water. The results of tests
demonstrated the removal efficiency of 15 % after 10 days of remediation.
In the present study, the washing-enhanced EK technique was used in the remediation of a fine-
grained soil contaminated with two different percentages of lead nitrate. The EK technique was
enhanced by using purging solutions and the mid compartment to increase the removal efficiency
of lead from soil. Also, the activated carbon was used to prevent the reverse electroosmotic flow.
Experimental
Soil sampling and materials
The intact soil samples were obtained from an open pit excavated to a depth of 3 m below the
existing ground level (EGL) in the site of Al-Ahdab oil field located in the southeast of Iraq. Depending
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M. Karkush and S. Ali J. Electrochem. Sci. Eng. 9(1) (2019) 63-73
on the unified soil classification system (USCS), the intact soil was classified as silty clay of high
plasticity (CH). The fine-grained soil is highly affected by contaminants, due to its large specific
surface area, dynamic crystalline structure and charged particles [11,12]. Two quantities of Pb(NO3)2
(100 and 300 g) were added to soil samples in order to study the impact of lead nitrate on the
chemical and physical properties of soil and measure the removal efficiency of the washing-
electrokinetic remediation technique. The EK process was enhanced with purging solutions,
activated carbon, and mid compartment. Lead nitrate is soluble in water, having solubility of 565
g/l. Nitric acid (HNO3) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were used as purging solutions to control the
pH value in the cathode and anode compartments, respectively. After several electrokinetic tests,
activated carbon was used for preventing reverse electroosmotic flow occurring from anode to
cathode. The physical and chemical properties of contaminant and purging solutions used in the
compartments of electrokinetic cell are given in Table 1.
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Soil Content, %
pH
sample SO3 Cl SiO2 CaO OMC Gypsum TSS
M0 0.036 0.5442 32.37 18.31 0.620 0.04 3.60 7.6
M1 0.221 0.2650 32.63 16.61 0.513 1.081 3.45 8.4
M2 0.346 0.3290 33.54 18.24 0.682 3.65 3.00 8.2
The physical properties of soil samples listed in Table 4 involve the particle-size distribution,
Atterberg’s limits (LL and PL), specific gravity (GS), maximum dry density (ρdmax), optimum moisture
content (ωopt), and permeability of soil (k). Also, the results demonstrated that presence of lead in
soil samples tended to increase the percentage of particles that had size higher than 0.005 mm [1].
CaCO3 and OMC were the main compounds in the cementation between the particles of soil and are
responsible for both, the sticking and stability of soil particles [15]. The lead has a greater adsorption
ability on the surfaces of clay particles than other HMs, and formation of cation bridges among the
particles of clayey soil resulted in increased stability of aggregate matrix.
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addition of 0.1 M NaOH and 0.001 M HNO3 in mid and cathode compartments, respectively). The
fourth way of enhancement was utilization of the washing process.
The major components of the system were power supply, pump station, and electrokinetic
rectangular cell of dimensions 50 cm in length, 10 cm in width and 10 cm in height. The EK cell
consisted of five compartments, for the soil sample, for the activated carbon, the mid compartment
between soil and AC and two others for electrodes (anode and cathode). Each electrode
compartment comprised a valve to manage the flow into the cell, a graphite electrode, filter paper
and porous stone. The filter paper and porous stone were used to prevent soil particles from
entrance into anode or cathode reservoirs. Gas vent tubes were provided in electrode
compartments to release gases resulting from the electrolysis reactions and collect any liquid that
was removed with the gases. A pH meter was used to measure changes in pH of the solution in the
cathode, mid, and anode compartments and soil after remediation. The effluent from cathode
compartment was collected to determine the accumulated volume of electroosmotic flow (EOF).
The size, shape, and arrangement of electrodes and the distance between them affect also the
removal efficiency. Only few researches have been conducted to select the optimum values for
these parameters. The dimensions of electrodes used in the present study were 2 cm in thickness ×
10 cm in width and 10.5 cm in height. Also, the voltage gradient through the soil sample will affect
the movement of ions between opposite charged electrodes and the transport of charge by
electroosmosis. A number of studies reported the voltage gradient in the range of 1–3 VDC/cm
[18,19]. The choice of the most suitable voltage gradient relies on soil properties and contamination
type, where soils of high electrical conductivity need more charge than soils of low electrical
conductivity. Increase of the voltage gradient will increase transport rates, i.e. ionic migration and
electroosmosis rates. At the other side, increase of the voltage gradient results in increase of the
electric current, the cost of the process, and the produced heat. Therefore, the voltage gradient
used in this study was set to 1.3 VDC/cm.
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Testing procedure
The testing procedure can be described by the following steps:
1) preparing the EK cell (electrodes, purging solutions,a device used to control the hydraulic
gradient).
2) Preparing the contaminated soil sample in the EK cell according to the field unit weight and natural
moisture content. In front of the electrodes, the filter paper and porous stone were placed.
3) The electrodes compartments were filled with purging solutions. The anode reservoir was filled
with 0.001 M HNO3 at the beginning of test, and then 0.1 M NaOH was added to maintain the
pH higher than 2. The cathode and mid reservoirs were filled with 0.001 M HNO3 from the
beginning of the experiment.
4) The graphite electrodes (anode and cathode) were linked to the power supply with a voltage
gradient equal to 1.3 VDC/cm.
5) The electric current, the volume of electroosmosis flow (EOF) and pH in the anode, mid, and
cathode compartments were measured every hour during the testing period.
6) The test was stopped when the electrical current became constant or no change in EOF was
observed.
7) At the end of each test, the soil specimen and AC are extruded from the cell by hands. The soil
specimen was sectioned into five parts and each part was weighed and subsequently preserved
in a glass container. For each soil section, pH was measured according to ASTM (D4972) and the
residual concentration of lead was measured using AAS.
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400
M1
M2
300
Current, mA 200
100
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Elapsed time, h
pH value
The values of pH measured in anode, mid, and cathode compartments during the period of
testing and their variations with time are shown in Figure 3.
15 15
12 12
9 9
pH
pH
6 6
3 3
Anode compartment M1 Anode compartment M2
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Elapsed time, h Elapsed time, h
15
12
9
pH
M1
3
Mid compartment M2
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Elapsed time, h
15 15
M1 M2
12 12
9 9
pH
pH
6 6
3 3
Cathode compartment Cathode compartment
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Elapsed time, h Elapsed time, h)
Figure 3. Variation of pH value of electrolyte solutions at three different compartments with time.
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Application of voltage gradient to the soil specimen that produced low DC current leads to the
production of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions at electrodes. Consequently, an acidic medium at the
anode and alkaline medium at the cathode were generated [24,25]. When pH reached the value
about 2, NaOH was added to the solution in the anode compartment, so the value of pH increased.
The values of pH in the mid compartment were inversely proportional to the concentration of
contaminant in the soil. pH value in the mid compartment depended on the quantity of accumulated
salts which was higher in the soil sample M2 than M1. Increasing the sediment of salts in the
compartment led to the lowering of the pH value.
In general, the pH value at anode during the test should have decreased, but in the present study,
the value of pH sometimes increased and oscillated between 6-12, what may be attributed to the
applied hydraulic gradient (washing process). In the cathode compartment, the value of pH was equal
to zero at the beginning of testing what was due to the effect of AC which prevented the rapid change
of pH value. After that, pH value began to increase and reached its maximum value due to the
generation of hydroxide ions (OH-). The increase of electroosmotic flow towards the cathode led to
lowering of pH value near the cathode because of the opposite migration of ions [26,27].
The lowering of pH value at the anode and rising at the cathode were accompanied by
propagation of an acid front into the soil pores from the anode and a base front from the cathode.
This process can significantly affect the soil zeta potential drop, as well as the solubility, ionic state
and charge, and level of adsorption of the contaminant [28]. The variation of pH value of soil along
the distance from anode to cathode is shown in Figure 4.
9
8.5
Soil pH
7.5 M1
M2
7
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Normalized distance from anode
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be maintained low enough to keep all contaminants in the dissolved phase [28,29]. The results of
tests demonstrated that increase of the concentration of lead nitrate in the soil, increased the rate
of EOF. This leads to increase of the ionic migration due to rise of the produced electrical current.
Also, it is important to notice that EOF started 80 hours after the beginning of the experiment, what
is due to low solubility of lead nitrate in water.
400
Accumulated EOF volume, ml
M1
M2
300
200
100
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Elapsed time, h
Removal efficiency
The residual concentrations of lead in the soil were measured using atomic absorption
spectroscopy (AAS) device. The initial concentration of lead in the soil is calculated by Eq. (1):
atomic mass of lead×used quantity
cPb / % = 100 (1)
atomic mass of leadnitrate
The initial concentration of lead in the soil samples M1 and M2 were found equal to 4.17 and
12.512 g/kg, respectively. The removal efficiency is obtained by Eq. (2).
c /c
ER i f (2)
ci
In Eq. (2), ER is the the removal efficiency of lead from soil, while Ci and Cf are initial and final
concentration of lead in the soil (g/kg). The removal efficiency of lead from soil samples M1 and M2
was determined as 12.4 and 21 %, respectively. Figure 6 shows the residual concentrations of lead
in the soil after EK remediation.
12
Residual concentration, g / kg
10
8 M1
M2
6
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Normolized distance from anode
Figure 6. Variation of the residual concentration of lead in soil sample with distance
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Conclusions
The lead nitrate as a soil contaminant has diverse impacts on the chemical and physical
characteristics of tested soil samples. The impacts of contamination depend on the concentration
and type of contaminant, as well as the type of soil, where geotechnical properties of soil are highly
influenced with increasing the concentration of lead nitrate in the soil. From the results of this study,
the following conclusions can be drawn out:
1) The electrokinetic method is very effective technique to remediate low permeability soils.
2) The pH value of soil increased in the soil specimen when moving towards the cathode
compartment.
3) The volume of EOF increased with increasing the concentration of lead in the soil.
4) The removal efficiency of lead from soil samples M1 and M2 is 12.4 and 21 %, respectively. The
low removal efficiency can be attributed to the high molar weight of lead nitrate which prevents
moving and transportation of contaminant particles in the EK process. The extraction efficiency
can be improved by increased the value of voltage gradient or by using another effective purging
solution to remove lead from the contaminated soil.
5) Using of activated carbon is very effective to prevent reverse EOF. The ability of activated carbon
to adsorb a contaminant increases with increased concentration of contaminant in the soil.
6) Using the mid compartment to enhance the EK technique is very useful in shortening the exiting
path of contaminant particles from the soil sample.
For the concentration of lead in soil increased over 6.67 g/kg, the voltage gradient must be kept
less than 1.3 VDC / cm to avoid increasing temperature of EK cell what may cause a damage. Also,
when the temperature exceeds 55 °C in the cathode compartment, production of gases is increased,
what can be poisonous and have detrimental effects to the human health.
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