• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.307-313
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• 2001

Reactive medium including zero-valent metals such as zero-valent iron ($Fe^0$) degrades chlorinated solvents as a contaminant plume flows through the treatment medium. Although the Feo based reactive barrier has been demonstnlted to be a cost effective for trichloroethenc (TCE)-contaminaled plume remediation, current approach is limited by low process eftlciency and uncertain, effective life of the medium. The objective of this study is to develop an enhanced treatment method of TeE-contaminated groundwater using Feo and direct current. The bench-scale test using flow-through $Fe^0$ reactor column confirmed that the application of direct current with $Fe^0$ is highly effective in enhancing the rate of TeE dechlorination. The dechlorination mechanism appears to be reductive, with the electrons supplied by the iron oxidation and external power supply serving as the additional source of electrons.