• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2014

Fenton reaction with zerovalent iron (ZVI) and $Fe^{2+}$ ions was studied to treat pharmaceutical wastewaters (PhWW) including antibiotics and non-biodegradable organics. Incremental biodegradability was assessed by monitoring biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) changes during Fenton reaction. Original undiluted wastewater samples were used as collected from the pharmaceutical factory. Experiments were carried out to obtain optimal conditions for Fenton reaction under different $H_2O_2$ and ion salts (ZVI and $Fe^{2+}$) concentrations. The optimal ratio and dosage of $H_2O_2$/ZVI were 5 and 25/5 g/L (mass basis), respectively. Also, the optimal ratio and dosage of $H_2O_2/Fe^{2+}$ ions were 5 and 35/7 g/L (mass basis), respectively. Under optimized conditions, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency by ZVI was 23% better than the treatment with $Fe^{2+}$ ion. The reaction time was 45 min for ZVI and shorter than 60 min for $Fe^{2+}$ ion. The COD and total organic carbon (TOC) were decreased, but BOD was increased under the optimal conditions of $H_2O_2$/ZVI = 25/5 g/L, because organic compounds were converted into biodegradable intermediates in the early steps of the reaction. The BOD/TOC ratio was increased, but reverse-wise, the COD/TOC was decreased because of generated intermediates. The biodegradability was increased about 9.8 times (BOD/TOC basis), after treatment with ZVI. The combination of chemical and biological processes seems an interesting combination for treating PhWW.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.229-241
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• 2008

In order to investigate stabilization effect on As-contaminated soils treated by zero-valent iron(ZVI) and industrial by-products, batch tests and column tests were carried out with As-contaminated soils collected from farmland around the abandoned mine site. In batch tests, ZVI and industrial by-products(blast furnace slag, steel refining slag and oyster shell powder) were used as treatment materials to reduce As. Industrial by-products were mixed with As-contaminated soils, in the ratio of 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% on the weight base of dried soil. After incubation, all samples showed the reduction of As concentration and it was expected that ZVI and steel refining slag were effective treatment materials to remove As among treatment materials used in batch test. In column tests, columns were made by acrylic with the dimension of diameter=10cm, height=100cm, thickness=1cm and these columns were filled with untreated soils and treated soils mixed with ZVI and steel refining slag(mixing ratio=3%). Distilled water was discharged into the columns with the velocity of 1 pore-volume/day. During test, pH, EC, Eh and As concentration were measured in the regular term(1 pore-volume). As a result, ZVI and steel refining slag were shown 93%, 62% reduction of As concentration respectively by comparison with untreated soils. Therefore, if ZVI and steel refining slag are used as treatment materials in As-contaminated soils, it is expected that the As concentration in soils is reduced effectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.1463-1474
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• 2008

In order to investigate stabilization effect and sustainability on As-contaminated farmland soils which were affected the abandoned mine site and stabilized by zerovalent iron(ZVI) and industrial by-products, batch-scale and pilot-scale tests were carried out. In batch tests, ZVI and industrial by-products(blast furnace slag, steel refining slag and oyster shell powder) were used in treatment materials to reduce the As leaching. Industrial by-products were mixed with As-contaminated soils, in the ratio of 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% on the weight base of dried soil. The results of batch-scale tests was shown that the reduction of As concentration was observed in all samples and it was expected that ZVI and steel refining slag were more effective than other treatment materials to stabilize As compounds. In pilot-scale tests, columns were filled with untreated soils and treated soils mixed with ZVI and steel refining slag in the same mixing ratio of 3%. Distilled water was discharged into the columns with the velocity of 0.3 pore volume/day. During the test, pH, EC, Eh and As concentration were measured in the regular term(1pore volume). after six months, pilot-scale tests were retested to investigate sustainability of treatment materials. As a result, It was shown that the leachate from control column was continuously released during the test period and its concentration was greater than $100ug{\cdot}L^{-1}$ which was exceeded the national regulation of water discharged to river or stream ($50ug{\cdot}L^{-1}$). On the other hand, soil treated with ZVI and steel refining slag showed that the concentrations of leachate were lower than national regulation of water discharged to river or stream. Therefore it was expected that ZVI and steel refining slag could be applied to the farmland site as the alternative treatment materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.395-398
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• 2003

Geosynthetic Clay Liners(GCLs) have been widely used as hydraulic barrier in landfills and remediation projects of contaminated sites. The aim of this research is to modify GCLs for effective removal of contaminants. We perform the free swell test, hydraulic conductivity test, and contaminants (TCE, hexavalent chromium, and nitrate) removal test on the bentonite-ZVI mixture with various ZVI content. As the ZVI content increased, contaminants removal efficiencies and swell volume increased, and hydraulic conductivity decreased.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.123-126
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• 2006

Reduction kinetics and intermediates behaviour of three high explosives (HMX, RDX, and TNT) were studies in batch reactors using either nano or micro size zero valent iron(ZVI) as reducing agent. The kinetics constants normalize to the mass of iron($k_M$) or to the surface area ($k_{SA}$) were measured and compared along with the changes of intermediate concentrations of each explosive. Results showed that $k_M$ and $k_{SA}$ values neither correlated each other nor explained the behaviour of intermediates of each high explosive in the batch reactor, in which initial intermediates decreased rapidly with nano ZVI treatment whereas the intermediates accumulated and stayed longer in the micro ZVI treated reactor.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.651-658
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• 2011

Nitrate is a common contaminant in industrial wastewater and ground water. The maximum contaminant level set by EPA for nitrate of 10 mg/L as N. In this study, nitrate was removed using bipolar ZVI packed bed electrolytic cell that maximized the contact area between each electrode and contaminants under 600 V. Also this study investigates the simultaneously deals with removal of ammonia by operating air stripping tower. In addition to the air stripping also helped to precipitate iron ions to the form of iron oxides. Bipolar ZVI packed bed electrolytic cell was also effective in removing coliform by electrical power. In the continuous experiments for the simulated wastewater (initial nitrate for 25 mg/L as N), maximum 96.3% removal of nitrate was achieved in the applied 600 V at the flow rate of 6 mL/min.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.679-687
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• 2007

Nanoscale zero valent ion (nZVI) technology is emerging as an innovative method to treat contaminated groundwater. The activity of nZVI is very high due to their high specific surface area, and supporting this material can help to preserve its chemical nature by inhibiting oxidation. In this study, nZVI particles were attached to granular ion-exchange resin through borohydride reduction of ferrous ions, and chemical reduction of nitrate by this material was investigated as a potential technology to remove nitrate from groundwater. The pore structure and physical characteristics were measured and the change by the adsorption of nZVI was discussed. Batch tests were conducted to characterize the activity of the supported nZVI and the results indicated that the degradation of nitrate appeared to be a pseudo first-order reaction with the observed reaction rate constant of $0.425h^{-1}$ without pH control. The reduction process continued but at a much lower rate with a rate constant of $0.044h^{-1}$, which is likely limited by mass transfer. To assess the effects of other ions commonly found in groundwater, the same experiments were conducted in simulated groundwater with the same level of nitrate. In simulated groundwater, the rate constant was $0.078h^{-1}$ and it also reduced to $0.0021h^{-1}$ in later phase. The major limitation in application of ZVI for nitrate reduction is ammonium production. By using a support material with ion exchange capacity, the problem of ammonium release can be solved. The ammonium was not detected in the batch test, even when other competitive ions such as calcium and potassium existed.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2016

The reaction of zero-valent iron (ZVI) with oxygen can produce reactive oxidants capable of oxidizing organic compounds. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-treatment on sludge solubilization by ZVI and aeration. The results demonstrated that the aeration pre-treatment with ZVI method was more effective than the only aeration for improving sludge solubilization, indicating that ZVI increased the extent of sludge solubilization. In addition, removal rate of $NH_3-N$ by ZVI and aeration was found to be 34%, while only aeration was 24%. Thus, ZVI and aeration can be employed as an efficient pre-treatment option to achieve higher sludge solubilization and decrease the toxic effect of $NH_3-N$ for sludge digestion.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1074-1081
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• 2006

As common pollutants in surface and groundwater, nitrate nitrogen($NO_3-N$) and trichloroethylene(TCE) can be chemically and biologically reduced by zero valent iron(ZVI) and peat soil. In batch microcosm experiments, chemical reduction of TCE and nitrate was supported by hydrogen from ZVI. For biological degradation of TCE and denitrification peat soil was introduced. ZVI reduced TCE, while peat provided TCE sorption site and microbes performing biological degradation. Nitrate reduction was also achieved by hydrogen from ZVI. In addition, indirect evidence of denitrification was observed. More reduction of TCE and nitrate was achieved by ZVI+peat treatment however nitrated reduction was hindered in the presence of TCE in the system due to the competition for hydrogen. TCE reduction mechanism was more dependent on ZVI, while nitrate was peat-dependent. Hydrogen and methane concentration showed that peat had various anaerobic denitryfing and halorespiring bacteria.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.107-116
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• 2014

This study aimed to synthesize dispersed and reactive nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) with poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate) (PVP/VA), nontoxic and biodegradable stabilizer. The nZVI used for the experiments was prepared by reduction of ferric solution in the presence of PVP/VA with specific weight ratios to iron contents. Colloidal stability was investigated based on the rate of sedimentation, hydrodynamic radius and zeta potential measurement. The characteristic time, which demonstrated dispersivity of particles resisting aggregation, increased from 21.2 min (bare nZVI) to 97.8 min with increasing amount of PVP/VA (the ratios of 2). For the most stable nZVI coated by PVP/VA, its reactivity was examined by nitrate reduction in a closed batch system. The pseudo-first-order kinetic rate constants for the nitrate reduction by the nanoparticles with PVP/VA ratios of 0 and 2 were 0.1633 and $0.1395min^{-1}$ respectively. A nitrogen mass balance, established by quantitative analysis of aqueous nitrogen species, showed that the addition of PVP/VA to nZVI can change the reduction capacity of the nanoparticles.