Chelant soil-washing technology for metal-contaminated soil.

We demonstrate here, in a pilot-scale experiment, the feasibility of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA)based washing technology for soils contaminated with potentially toxic metals. Acid precipitation coupled to initial alkaline toxic metal removal and an electrochemical advanced oxidation process were used for average recovery of 76 +/- 2% of EDTA per batch and total recycle of water in a closed process loop. No waste water was generated; solid wastes were efficiently bitumen-stabilized before disposal.

Pilot-scale washing of Pb, Zn and Cd contaminated soil using EDTA and process water recycling.

Pb, Zn and Cd contaminated garden soil (5249, 3348 and 20.6 mg kg(-1), respectively) rich with fines and organic matter was washed with a solution of 120 mmol EDTA kg(-1) of soil in a pilot-scale remediation plant operating in a batch (60 kg of soil) mode. After soil washing, the solid phase and used washing solution were separated in a chamber filter press.

Pilot-scale washing of metal contaminated garden soil using EDTA.

Ten batches (75kg each) of garden soil with >50% of silt and clay and average 1935mgkg(-1) Pb, 800mgkg(-1) Zn, 10mgkg(-1) Cd and 120mgkg(-1) As were remediated in a pilot-scale chemical extraction plant. Washing with 60mmol ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) per kg of soil on average removed 79, 38, 70, and 80% of Pb, Zn, Cd and As, respectively, and significantly reduced the leachability, phyto-accessibility and oral-availability of residual toxic metals, as assessed using deionised water, toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid extraction (DTPA) and physiologically based extraction test (PBET) tests. The used soil washing solution was treated before discharge using an electrochemical advanced oxidation process with graphite anode: EDTA was removed by degradation and toxic metals were electro-precipitated onto a stainless steel cathode.

Electrochemical treatment of spent solution after EDTA-based soil washing.

The use of EDTA in soil washing technologies to remediate soils contaminated with toxic metals is prohibitive because of the large volumes of waste washing solution generated, which must be treated before disposal. Degradation of EDTA in the waste solution and the removal of Pb, Zn and Cd were investigated using electrochemical advanced oxidation processes (EAOP) with a boron-doped diamond anode (BDDA), graphite and iron anodes and a stainless-steel cathode. In addition to EAOP, the efficiency of electro-Fenton reactions, induced by the addition of H(2)O(2) and the regulation of electrochemical systems to pH 3, was also investigated.

Electrochemical separation and reuse of EDTA after extraction of Cu contaminated soil.

Recycling chelant is a precondition for cost-effective EDTA-based soil washing remediation technologies. Soil contaminated with 290 mg kg(-1) Cu was extracted with 40 mmol EDTA per kg of soil. The spent washing solution (containing 73+/-1 mg L(-1) of Cu and 8.