Theoretical evaluation of a technique for electrokinetic decontamination of soils

An electrokinetic decontamination process has been modeled to investigate the feasibility of using electrokinetic soil remediation technology to remove 137Cs and 90Sr from the soil. 100 V DC current is applied to a 3-meter-long soil column by electrodes connected to the soil. The prediction results have shown that the efficiency of the electrokinetic treatment depends on the sorption and diffusion parameters. High sorption and slow diffusion will demand long treatment time. If the soil to be treated has similar sorption and diffusion properties as bentonite, and when the soil is flushed with saline water that leads to less sorption, both 137Cs and 90Sr may be cleaned by the electrokinetic process within a few months.