Electromagnetic Induction of Zerovalent Iron (ZVI) Powder and Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron (NZVI) Particles Enhances Dechlorination of Trichloroethylene in Contaminated Groundwater and Soil: Proof of Concept

This study evaluates the concept of using zerovalent iron (ZVI) powder or nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) particles in combination with a low frequency (150 kHz) AC electromagnetic field (AC EMF) to effectively remove trichloroethylene (TCE) from groundwater and saturated soils. ZVI and NZVI are fe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2016-01, Vol.50 (2), p.872-880
Main Authors: Phenrat, Tanapon, Thongboot, Thippawan, Lowry, Gregory V
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Contamination
Desorption
Electromagnetic Fields
Electromagnetism
Groundwater
Groundwater pollution
Iron
Iron - chemistry
Nanoparticles
Powders
Soil
Soil Pollutants - chemistry
Trichloroethylene - chemistry
Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study evaluates the concept of using zerovalent iron (ZVI) powder or nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) particles in combination with a low frequency (150 kHz) AC electromagnetic field (AC EMF) to effectively remove trichloroethylene (TCE) from groundwater and saturated soils. ZVI and NZVI are ferromagnetic, which can induce heat under applied AC EMF. The heat generated by ZVI and NZVI induction can increase the rate of dechlorination, according to Arrhenius’ equation, and increase the rate of TCE desorption from TCE-sorbed soil. Both dechlorination and TCE desorption enhance the overall TCE removal rate. We evaluated this novel concept in laboratory batch reactors. We found that both ZVI and NZVI can induce heat under applied AC EMF up to 120 °C in 20 min. Using ZVI and NZVI with AC EMF enhanced dechlorination of dissolved TCE (no soil) up to 4.96-fold. In addition to increasing the temperature by ZVI and NZVI induction heating, AC EMF increased intrinsic ZVI and NZVI reactivity, ostensibly due to accelerated corrosion, as demonstrated by the increased ORP. In a soil-water-TCE system, NZVI together with AC EMF thermally enhanced desorption of TCE from soil and increased the degradation of TCE up to 5.36-fold compared to the absence of AC EMF. For the first time, this study indicates the potential for ZVI and NZVI coupled with AC EMF as a combined remediation technique for increasing the rate and completeness of in situ cleanup of adsorbed phase contaminants.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.5b04485