• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.797-802
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• 2017

This study aimed to remove organic matter and heavy metals that could affect the recycling of soils contaminated by heavy metals, by means of electrolysis, carried out simultaneously with the leaching of the soil. To ensure better experimental equipment, a soil electrolysis apparatus, equipped with spiral paddles, was used to agitate the heavy-metal-contaminated soil effectively. The heavy-metal-contaminated soil was electrolyzed by varying the voltage to 5 V(Condition 1), 15 V(Condition 2), and 20 V(Condition 3), under the optimal operating conditions of the electrolysis apparatus, as determined through previous studies. The results showed that the pH of the electrolyte solution and the heavy-metal-contaminated soil, after electrolysis, tended to decrease with an increase in voltage. The highest removal efficiencies of TOC and $COD_{Cr}$ were 18.8% and 29.1%, 38.8% and 4.2%, and 33.3% and 50.0%, under conditions 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Heavy metals such as Cd and As were not detected in this experiment. The removal efficiencies of Cu, Pb and Cr were 4.7%, 8.3% and 2.1%, respectively, under Condition 1, while they were 42.9%, 15.2% and 22.1%, respectively, under Condition 2, and 4.7%, 23.0%, and 24.9%, respectively, under Condition 3. These results suggest that varying the voltage with the soil electrolysis apparatus for removing contaminants for the recycling of heavy-metal-contaminated soil allows the selective removal of contaminants. Therefore, the results of this study can be valuable as basic data for future studies on soil remediation.