Effect of pH control at the anode for the electrokinetic removal of phenanthrene from kaolin soil

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-contaminated soils exist at numerous sites, and these sites may threaten public health and the environment because many PAH compounds are toxic, mutagenic, and/or carcinogenic. PAHs are also hydrophobic and persistent, so conventional remediation methods are often costly or inefficient, especially when the contaminants are present in low permeability and/or organic soils. An innovative technique, electrokinetically enhanced in situ flushing, has the potential to increase soil–solution–contaminant interaction and PAH removal efficiency for low permeability soils; however, the electrolysis reaction at the anode may adversely affect the remediation of low acid buffering capacity soils, such as kaolin. Therefore, the objective of this study was to improve the remediation of low acid buffering soils by controlling the pH at the anode to counteract the electrolysis reaction. Six bench-scale electrokinetic experiments were conducted, where each test employed one of three different flushing solutions, deionized water, a surfactant, or a cosolvent. For each of these solutions, tests were performed with and without a 0.01 M NaOH solution at the anode to control the pH. The test using deionized water with pH control generated a higher electroosmotic flow than the equivalent test performed without pH control, but the electroosmotic flow difference between the surfactant and cosolvent tests with and without pH control was minor compared to that observed with the deionized water tests. Controlling the pH was beneficial for increasing contaminant solubilization and migration from the soil region adjacent to the anode, but the high contaminant concentrations that resulted in the middle or cathode soil regions indicates that subsequent changes in the soil and/or solution chemistry caused contaminant deposition and low overall contaminant removal efficiency.