ELECTROKINETIC REMEDIATION - BASICS AND TECHNOLOGY STATUS

Electrokinetic remediation, variably named as electrochemical soil pro cessing, electromigration, electrokinetic decontamination or electrore clamation uses electric currents to extract radionuclides, heavy metal s, certain organic compounds, or mixed inorganic species and some orga nic wastes from soils and slurries. An overview of the principals of t he electrokinetic remediation technique in soils is presented. The typ es of waste and media in which the technology could potentially be app licable are outlined and some envisioned environmental uses of conduct ion phenomena in soils under electric fields are presented. The curren t status of the electrokinetic remediation technique and its limitatio ns are discussed through a review of the bench-scale and pilot-scale t ests. The recent findings of research on different techniques that may improve the technology's effectiveness are mentioned and the status o f ongoing efforts in wide-scale implementation and commercialization o f the technique in the USA are described.