Validation of Recycling Electrochemically Treated Surfactant Solutions for Washing the PAHs-Contaminated Soil

Abstract

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) cause adverse environmental impact when released into the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of electrochemical destruction of PAHs in virgin and recycled washing solutions as well as evaluating the validity of recycling the electrochemically treated washing solutions for excessive cycles of soil decontamination. Anthracene, fluorene, and pyrene have been used as model PAH compounds. Solutions of non ionic surfactant, Tween 80, and Triton X-100 were used as the washing solutions. Approximately, complete PAHs degradation was achieved using electrochemical treatment of PAH-loaded surfactant solutions. The capacities of the recycled washing solutions for extracting PAHs from soil were comparable to the capacity of the virgin washing solutions. The order of PAHs electrochemical degradation in a ternary mixture was different from their order when existing as a single PAH.

Key Words:

• electrochemical treatment
• PAHs
• recycling
• soil contamination
• surfactants

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Funding for this research was provided by the Petroleum Research and Development Center, Ministry of Oil, Iraq.