• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.45 no.2
• /
• pp.121-135
• /
• 2012

Soil dispersion and heavy metal leaching with two heavy metal-contaminated soils were studied to derive the optimal dispersion condition in the course of developing the remedial technology using magnetic separation. The dispersion solutions of pyrophosphate, hexametaphosphate, orthophosphate and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) at 1 - 200 mM and the pH of solutions was adjusted to be 9 - 12 with NaOH. The clay content of suspension as an indicator of dispersion rate and the heavy metal concentration of the solution were tested at the different pHs and concentrations of the dispersion solution during the experiment. The dispersion rate increased with increasing the pH and dispersion agent concentration of the solution. The dispersion efficiency of the agents showed as follows: pyrophosphate > hexametaphosphate > SDS > orthophosphate. Arsenic leaching was sharply increased at 50 mM of phosphates and 100 mM of SDS. The adsorption of $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecysulfate on the surface of Fe- and Mn-oxides and soil organic matter and the broken edge of clay mineral might decrease the surface charge and might increase the repulsion force among soil particles. The competition between arsenic and $OH^-$, phosphates and dodecylsulfate for the adsorption site of soil particles might induce the arsenic leaching. The dispersion and heavy metal leaching data indicate that pH 11 and 10 mM pyrophosphate is the optimum dispersion solution for maximizing dispersion and minimizing heavy metal leaching.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 2011

$TiO_2$-coated bamboo activated carbon has been prepared and utilized under UV irradiation as a pretreatment method for an effective biodegradation of the recalcitrant polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The anatase $TiO_2$ was successfully coated on the bamboo activated carbon (AC) and it showed the highest photoactivity against methylene blue. In the absence of the PAHs-degrading bacteria PAHs having low molecular weight (i.e., naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, and fluorene) were degraded by 9.8, 76.2, 74.1, and 40.5%, respectively. Higher molecular weight PAHs, however, maintained high residual concentrations of PAHs (400-1,000 ${\mu}g$/L) after the same treatment. On the other hand, the overall concentrations of PAHs became lower than 340 ${\mu}g$/L when the pretreated PAHs were subjected to biodegradation by a PAH-degrading consortium for a week. Herein, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, and pyrene were removed by 29.3, 61.4, 27.0, and 44.3%, respectively, indicating the facilitated potential biodegradation of PAHs. Activated carbon coated with $TiO_2$ appeared to inhibit growth of PAH degraders on the surface of AC, indicating planktonic degraders were dominantly involved in the PAH biodegradation in presence of the $TiO_2$-coated bamboo AC. It was proposed that an effective remediation technology for the recalcitrant PAHs could be developed when an optimum pretreatment process is further established.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.137-142
• /
• 1997

At the tailings dam of the disused Brukunga pyrite mine in South Australia, reaction of groundwater with the tailings causes the formation and discharge of sulphuric acid. There is a need to improve remediation efforts by decreasing groundwater flow through the tailings dam. Geophysical methods have been investigated to determine whether they can be used to characterise variations in depth to watertable and map preferred groundwater flow paths. Three methods were used: transient electromagnetic (TEM) soundings, direct current (DC) soundings and profiling, and self potential (SP) profiling. The profiling methods were used to map the areal extent of a given response, while soundings was used to determine the variation in response with depth. The results of the geophysical surveys show that the voltages measured with SP profiling are small and it is hard to determine any preferred channels of groundwater flow from SP data alone. Results obtained from TEM and DC soundings, show that the DC method is useful for determining layer boundaries at shallow depths (less than about 10 m), while the TEM method can resolve deeper structures. Joint use of TEM and DC data gives a more complete and accurate geoelectric section. The TEM and DC measurements have enabled accurate determination of depth to groundwater. For soundings centred at piezometers, this depth is consistent with the measured watertable level in the corresponding piezometer. A map of the watertable level produced from all the TEM and DC soundings at the site shows that the shallowest level is at a depth of about 1 m, and occurs at the southeast of the site, while the deepest watertable level (about 17 m) occurs at the northwest part of the site. The results indicate that a possible source of groundwater occurs at the southeast area of the dam, and the aquifer thickness varies between 6 and 13 m. A map of the variation of resistivity of the aquifer has also been produced from the TEM and DC data. This map shows that the least resistive (i.e., most conductive) section of the aquifer occurs in the northeast of the site, while the most resistive part of the aquifer occurs in the southeast. These results are interpreted to indicate a source of fresh (resistive) groundwater in the southeast of the site, with a possible further source of conductive groundwater in the northeast.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.14 no.6
• /
• pp.65-70
• /
• 2009

Reduction of groundwater surface tension prior to air sparging (SEAS, surfactant-enhanced air sparging) was known to increase air saturation in the aquifer under influence, possibly enhancing the removal rates of volatile contaminants. Although SEAS was known to be efficient for increasing air saturation, little information is available for different hydrogeological settings including soil particle sizes and the depth of aquifer. We investigated water saturations in the sparging influence zone during SEAS using one-dimensional column packed with sands of different particle sizes and different aquifer depths. An anionic surfactant was used to suppress the surface tension of water. Two different sands were used; the air entry pressures of the sands were measured to be $15.0\;cmH_2O$, and $36.3\;cmH_2O$, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the water saturation-surface tension relationship for sands with different particle sizes. As the surface tension decreased, the water saturation decreased to a lowest point and then it increased with further decrease in the surface tension. Both sands reached their lowest water saturations when the surface tension was set approximately at 42 dyne/cm. SEAS was conducted at three different aquifer depths; 41 cm, 81 cm, and 160 cm. Water saturation-surface tension relationship was consistent regardless of the aquifer depth. The size of sparging influence zone during SEAS, measured using two-dimensional model, was found to be similar to the changes in air saturation, measured using one-dimensional model. Considering diverse hydrogeological settings where SEAS to be applied, the results here may provide useful information for designing SEAS process.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.65-75
• /
• 1996

Sulfate reduction and the precipitation of metal sulfides may have great potential to improve water quality of mine effluents in wetland treatment systems. Laboratory experiments using sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) and limestone to treat effluents from the abandoned Dalsung tungsten-copper mine show that encouraging results, that have been attributed to sulfate reduction. Fe, Al, Cd, Cu and Zn are reduced to below detection limits with $99{\sim}100%$ metal removal rates, Mn is reduced by at least 90% to below 8.0 mg/l, and the pH is raised from 5.12 to 7.60 after 53 days of experiments. In the staged design, laboratory experiments are initiated to determine what would be reasonable substrate materials for remediation of the mine effluents. A substrate mixture containing 70% oak compost and 30% mushroom compost maintains $0.03{\sim}0.04mM$ of lactate, which provides good condition for the SRB granule. A downflow SRB wetland system is proposed as follows : 1) The lower part of the treatment system consists with a 25 cm thick layer of high quality (above 95% of $CaCO_3$) of limestone; 2) The geotextile (geonet) is recommended to be spread on the limestone bed to prevent clogging the limestones with the substrates; 3) The mixture of substrates with 70% oak and 30% spent mushroom composts, and SRB granules overlain on top of the geonet with 25 cm height. The sizes of the passive treatment systems are calculated according to metal loading and permeability criteria : 1) $220m^3$ ($15{\times}15{\times}1m$) for -1 level effluents; 2) $28m^3$ ($5.3{\times}5.3{\times}1m$) for -2 level; and 3) $2700m^3$ ($52{\times}52{\times}1m$) for the -3 level. The -3 level system needs to be broken down into 5 to 15 cells.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.14-22
• /
• 2006

Laboratory column experiment for simultaneous removal of Cd and Cr(VI) were conducted using newly developed material of Fe-loaded zeolite having both reduction ability and sorption capacity. The solution containing Cd and Cr(VI) was injected into the column and the breakthrough curves (BTCs) for the contaminants were observed at the effluent port. Cd breakthrough was not initialized until Cr(VI) breakthrough was completed. Therefore it could be concluded that overall efficiency of Fe-loaded zeolite should be determined by the reactivity for Cr(VI). The relative concentration of Cr(VI) BTC increased to the unit value while initial breakthrough was delayed and the propagation of breakthrough was slowed. In order to quantitatively describe the shape of Cr(VI) BTC, new parameters of ${\alpha}\;and\;{\beta}$ designated to be shape parameters, were defined and applied in contaminant transport concentration. These parameters were employed to represent the degree of initial breakthrough delay and the degree of breakthrough propagation, respectively. As initial contaminant concentration increased, ${\alpha}$ decreased, which indicated the delay of BTC's initiation. And as initial contaminant flow rate increased, ${\beta}$ decreased, which represented the faster propagation of the BTC. From these results, Fe-loaded zeolite was found to be an effective reactive material for PRBs against heavy metals having different ionic forms in groundwater. And it could be expected that as groundwater flows faster, the propagation of breakthrough would be faster and as contaminant concentration is higher, the initial point of breakthrough would appear earlier.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 2008

This study was performed to synthesize Na-A type zeolite with melting slag from the Mapo incineration site and recycle the zeolite as an environmental remediation agent. The melting slag used had a favorable composition containing 26.6% $SiO_2$, 10.9% $Al_2O_3$ and 2.7% $Na_2O$ for zeolite synthesis although there were high contents of iron oxides, including 19.6% $Fe_2O_3$ and 18.9% FeO, which had been used as a flux for the melting. It was confirmed that the Na-A type zeolite could be successfully synthesized at $80^{\circ}C$ and $SiO_2/Al_2O_3\;=\;0.80{\sim}1.96$. The cation exchange capacities (CEC) of the zeolites was determined to be about 220 cmol/kg leveled off at the synthetic time more than 10hrs. The adsorption capacities of zeolite to heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Mn and Pb) were high except for As arid Cr. It was also confirmed through the Eh and pH analysis that As and Cr existed in the forms of $HAsO_4^{2-}$ and $CrO_4^{2-}$. The low absorption rates of zeolite for As and Cr are attributed to the fact that the pore size ($4\;{\AA}$) of Na-A type is smaller than those of $HAsO_4^{2-}$ and $CrO_4^{2-}$ ions ($4\;{\AA}$ ionic radii and $8\;{\AA}$ diameter).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.265-273
• /
• 2005

Chemical properties and heavy metal concentrations of forest soils of four abandoned coal mine lands affected by coal mining activities in the Mungyeong area were investigated to provide basic information for revegetation of abandoned coal mine lands. Soil pH in abandoned coal mine lands ranged from 5.30 to 6.76 it in the control site was 5.23. Contents of organic matter and total N in abandoned coal mine lands were $4.46\~7.19\%\;and\;0.07\~0.15\%$, respectively. Available P contents were 6.54 for A (Samchang), 6.52 for B (Bongmyeong),3.94 fur C (Kabjung), 5.45 mg/kg for D (Danbong coal mine land) and 5.25 mg/kg for the control site, which had a positive correlation with soil pH. Contents of exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and Na in abandoned coal mile lands averaged 196.1, 88.7, 88.2 and $10.2cmol^+/kg$, with a range of $132.1\~242.1,\;24.2\~138.\; 64.9\~120.8\;and\;8\~12.2cmol^+/kg$, respectively. Those of the control site were 192.8, 95.8, 104 and $21.2 cmol^+/kg$, respectively. Heavy metals such as Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn of forest soil in abandoned coal mine lands have a larger content than those of the control site. Al, Mn and fb content was especially high in abandoned coal mine lands. The Al content of forest soil in abandoned coal mine lands ranged from 397 to 917 ppm, which was considered to be high enough to inhibit tree growth. Therefore, it is suggested that soils of abandoned coal mine lands contaminated by mining activities need to be properly treated for remediation of environmental problems.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.101-110
• /
• 2013

Due to the large specific surface area and great reactivity toward environmental contaminants, nanocrystalline mackinawite (FeS) has been widely applied for the remediation of contaminated groundwater and soil. Furthermore, nanocrystalline FeS is rather thermodynamically stable against anoxic corrosion, and its reactivity can be regenerated continuously by the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria. However, nanocrystalline mackinawite is prone to either spread out along the groundwater flow or cause pore clogging in aquifers by particle aggregation. Accordingly, this mineral should be modified for the application of permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). In this study, coating methods were investigated by which mackinawite nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of alumina or activated alumina. The amount of FeS coating was found to significantly vary with pH, with the highest amount occurring at pH ~6.9 for both minerals. At this pH, the surfaces of mackinawite and alumina (or activated alumina) were oppositely charged, with the resultant electrostatic attraction making the coating highly effective. At this pH, the coating amounts by alumina and activated alumina were 0.038 and 0.114 $mmol{\cdot}FeS/g$, respectively. Under anoxic conditions, arsenite sorption experiments were conducted with uncoated alumina, uncoated activated alumina, and both minerals coated with FeS at the optimal pH for comparison of their reactivity. Uncoated activated alumina showed the higher arsenite removal compared to uncoated alumina. Notably, the arsenite sorption capacity of activated alumina was little changed by the coating with FeS. This might be attributed to the abundance of highly reactive hydroxyl functional groups (${\equiv}$AlOH) on the surface of activated alumina, making the arsenite sorption by the coated FeS unnoticeable. In contrast, the arsenite sorption capacity of alumina was found to increase substantially by the FeS coating. This was due to the consumption of the surface hydroxyl functional groups on the alumina surface and the subsequent occurrence of As(III) sorption by the coated FeS. Alumina, on the surface area basis, has about 8 times higher FeS coating amount and higher As(III) sorption capacity than silica. This study indicates that alumina is a better candidate than silica for the coating of nanocrystalline mackinawite.