Dd. Gates-anderson et al., Comparison of potassium permanganate and hydrogen peroxide as chemical oxidants for organically contaminated soils, J ENV ENG, 127(4), 2001, pp. 337-347
Citations number
39
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology,"Environmental Engineering & Energy
Laboratory experiments were completed to compare the treatment efficiency o
f KMnO4 with H2O2 (alone or with amendments) for sand and silty clay soil c
ontaminated with either a mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [tri
chloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethene (PCE), and 1,1,1-trichloroethane (T
CA)] or semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) (naphthalene, phenanthrene,
and pyrene). The relatively treatment effects of soil type, oxidant loading
rate and dosing, and reaction period, as well as the use of surfactant or
iron amendments and pH adjustment were examined using batch experiments wit
h contaminated soil slurries. When KMnO4 was applied to low organic carbon,
acidic, or alkaline soils, at loading rates of 15-20 g/kg it was found to
degrade consistently 90% or more of the alkene VOCs (TCE and PCE) and 99% o
f the polyaromatic SVOCs (naphthalene, pyrene, and phenanthrene). H2O2 was
more sensitive to contaminant and soil type and VOC treatment efficiencies
were somewhat lower as compared with KMnO4 under comparable conditions, par
ticularly with the sandy soil and even when supplemental iron was added. In
clay soil, H2O2 with iron addition degraded over 90% of the SVOCs present
compared with near zero in sandy soil, unless the pH was depressed to pH 3
and iron amendments were increased, whereby the treatment efficiency in the
sandy soil was increased slightly. With both H2O2 and KMnO4, treatment eff
iciency increased to varying degrees as the oxidant loading rate (g/kg) and
reaction time (h) were increased. Multiple oxidant additions or surfactant
addition were not found to have any significant effect on VOC treatment ef
ficiency. Also, very limited TCA treatment was observed with either H2O2 Or
KMnO4.