A LABORATORY-SCALE STUDY OF APPLIED VOLTAGE AND CHELATING AGENT ON THE ELECTROKINETIC SEPARATION OF PHENOL FROM SOIL

The influence of the chelating agent (1-hydroxyethane-1, 1-diphosphonic acid) (HEDPA) on the electroosmotic flow (EF) in natural, sod-podzolic soil contaminated with 0.003 g phenol per 1 g of dry soil was studied. An introduction of a small amount of HEDPA increased the electroosmotic permeability of soil from 4 × 10−5 to 11.2 × 10−5 cm2/V·s. Up to 80–95% of the phenol was removed from the soil by the EF during 30 to 50 hours of treatment with the average intensity of the EF remaining constant throughout the tests. The study confirmed that certain hazardous organic contaminants (e.g., phenol) could be successfully extracted from the soils of low permeability by combined application of a direct-current electric field and specific complexing agents.