Abstract
Peroxide is used frequently to provide electron acceptors to aerobes for the purpose of in situ bioremediation of contaminated soil/sediment. In this study, oxygen release rate of peroxides and factors affecting on dissolution and diffusion of oxygen into pore water were evaluated. Peroxides studied in this study were magnesium peroxide ($MgO_2$), calcium peroxide ($CaO_2$), and sodium percarbonate ($Na_2CO_3{\cdot}1.5H_2O_2$). $Na_2CO_3{\cdot}1.5H_2O_2$ showed the highest oxygen release rate per unit mass and the shortest release duration time among three peroxides. A simple first-order decay model for predicting the release rate of oxygen from peroxide into pore water was presented and used to fit the experimental data. The first order oxygen release rate constants k for $MgO_2$, $CaO_2$ and $Na_2CO_3{\cdot}1.5H_2O_2$ were 0.45 /hr, 3.22 /hr and 134 /hr, respectively. If $MgO_2$ was mixed with clay, oxygen release rate was lowered significantly mainly due to limitation of contact area and diffusion, implying that oxygen can be provided to the indigenous aerobes for the extended period of time.