• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.62-65
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• 2002

Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are in-situ barriers constructed in a subsurface to treat contaminated groundwater using various reactive media. The common reactive medium used in PRB is zero-valent iron, which has been widely used to treat chlorinated solvents (i.e., PCE, TCE). A disadvantage of iron media is high cost. In this study, waste foundry sands were tested to determine the feasibility of their use as a low cost reactive medium. Batch and column tests were conducted with TCE to determine transport parameters and reactivity of the foundry sands. The reactivities of foundry sands for common groundwater contaminants are comparable to or slightly higher than those for Peerless iron, a common medium used in PRBs. In addition, the TOC and clay in foundry sands can significantly retard the movement of target contaminant, which may result in lower effluent concentration of contaminant due to biodegradation. In general, PRBs 1-m thick can be constructed with many foundry sands to treat TCE provided the zero-valent iron content in the foundry sand is higher than 1%.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2004

Batch and column tests were performed to develop the design factors for permeable reactive barriers(PRBs) against the contaminated groundwater with ammonium from unsanitary landfill. Clinoptilolite, one of natural zeolites having excellent cation exchange capacity(CEC), was chosen as the reactive material. In batch test, the reactivity of clinoptilolite to ammonium was examined by varying the initial concentration of ammonium and the particle size of clinoptilolites. One gram of clinoptilolite showed removal efficiency about 80% against the ammonium except in very high initial concentration of 80 ppm, but the effect of particle size of clinoptilolite was not noticeable. Permeability test was performed for the specimens made of clinoptilolite and Jumunjin sand with 20 : 80 weight ratio. Flexible wall permeameter was employed far permeability test. The specimen containing the washed 0.42-0.85mm clinoptilolite showed the highest permeability of about $10^{-3}$/s. In column test, the reactivity of mixed materials against ammonium in flowing condition was examined with the landfill leachate. With the test results, clinoptilolite was found to be a suitable material for PRBs against the contaminated groundwater with ammonium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.176-179
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• 2003

The objective of this study was to investigate reductive dechlorination of aromatic hydrocarbons using zero valent metals (ZVMs) and catalysts as reactive materials for permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). A group of small aromatic hydrocarbons such as monochlorophenols, phenol, benzene were readily reduced with palladium catalyst and zero valent iron. Poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were also tested with the catalysts and zero valent metal combinations. The aromatic rings were reduced and partly reduced PAHs were found as the daughter compounds. Current preliminary study implicate that ZVMs and modified catalysts can be successfully applied for PRBs which currently applicable for halogenated organic compounds and some inorganic contaminants including chromium(Ⅵ) and nitrate.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.19-28
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• 2009

The acid mine drainage (AMD) and landfill leachates released into the subsurface environment can result in serious environmental problems like soil and groundwater contamination. The AMD and the leachates of landfill were known to contain many heavy metals. In this study, the author assessed the reactivity and ability of the FeS coated-ALC for the removal of contaminants (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn, Al) in AMD and leachates in landfill. The synthetic nano-FeS and Autoclaved Lightweight Concrete (ALC) were used as reactive materials in the permeable reactive barriers(PRBs). The result of batch test indicated that synthetic nano-FeS can remove 99% of heavy metals for the 1hr of reaction time except for As and Ni(about 90%). However, the 80% of As and Ni was removed in column 1(FeS coated-ALC). The column 2(Ore FeS) removed more than 99% of heavy metals. The pH of the column 1 was increased from 3.51 to 6.39~6.50, and the pH with column 2 was increased from 3.51 to 9.20. As the result of this study, the author can surmise that the synthetic nano-FeS coated ALC will use as a very good reactive material of the PRBs to treat the contaminated groundwater with AMD and leachate of landfill.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2017

Passive treatment systems are commonly used for remediation of mine drainage waters because they do not require continuous chemical inputs and operation. In this study, the selection and design criteria for such systems were evaluated, particularly the two most commonly used ones, i.e., permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) and vertical flow biological reactors (VFBRs). PRBs and VFBRs are operated on the same principles in terms of biochemical reaction mechanisms, whereas differences relate to configuration, engineering, and water management. In this study, each of these systems were described with respect to key design variables, such as metal removal mechanisms and removal rates, effectiveness and longevity, general design and construction, flow capacity, and cost. The information provided from this study could be used as a design guideline when a passive treatment option is considered for potential remediation of a mine site.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.249-255
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• 2004

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.143-146
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• 2004

Natural zeolites have exhibited high sorption capacity for inorganic cations including heavy metals and ammonium. Moreover, they were proven to be effective for environmental applications such as permeable barriers for controlling the spread of cation-contaminated groundwater. However zeolites have little or no affinity for anionic species like chromium, as they possess a net negative structural charge. To achieve the simultaneous sorption for anionic contaminants, surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) has been employed as the possible sorbents. Current study focuses on simultaneous removal of heavy metals having different ionic form in aqueous solution, cadmium (C $d^{2+}$) and chromium (Cr $O_{4}$$^{2-}$), using newly developed materials, ZanF. ZanF, a potential alternative to SMZ, was derived from zeolite modified by Fe(II) chloride followed by reduction with sodium borohydride. Batch experiments were performed to estimate the removal efficiency of ZanF at different conditions. Under different pH ranging from 2 to 6, removal efficiency was investigated. And C $d^{2+}$ removal efficiency was estimated by varying background concentration of Cr $O_{4}$$^{2-}$, and vice versa. With the test results, ZanF was expected to be a possible reactive materials alternative to SMZ in permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) for treating the contaminated groundwater with cationic and anionic heavy metals.als.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.129-132
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• 2004

A hybrid permeable reactive barriers(hybrid PRBs) composed of Fe(II) PRB, biological PRB and sorptive PRB was investigated to treat groundwater with multiple contaminations. We performed batch, column and pilot tests to determine removal rates and design parameters of each PRB media, and operated two hybrid PRB systems with pilot-scale barriers in series. The pilot test of the hybrid PRB system with the combination of Fe(II), biological media and black shale showed multiple contaminations could be removed in ground water. Nitrate could be treated below 20 mg/L and Cr(VI) was treated down to 0.05 mg/L. TCE was degraded below 0.001 mg/L in system. The hybrid PRB system with a proper combination of PRBs could remediate ground water with multiple contaminations.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.179-193
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• 2002

Waste foundry sands were tested to determine their leaching characteristics when used as reactive media in permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). Water leach tests and column leach tests were performed on twelve foundry sands and three reference materials such as Peerless iron, a local fill material, and torpedo sand. The latter three materials were tested to compare concentrations of heavy metals and anions found in other materials commonly placed below the groundwater table with those from the foundry sands. Results of water leach tests md total elemental analyses showed that all of the laundry sands are Category 2 materials per Section NR 538 of the Wisconsin Administrator Code. However, tests on Peerless iron, torpedo sand, and a typical fill material indicate that these materials, which are commonly placed below the groundwater table, also are Category 2 materials. Thus, using foundry sand as a PR3 medium should pose no greater risk than that imposed using conventional construction materials.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.23-26
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• 2001

Batch test and column test were performed to develop the design factors for PRBs against the contaminated groundwater by ammonium and lead. Clinoptilolite, one of the natural zeolites having excellent cation exchange capacity(CEC), was chosen as the reactive material through the ion-exchange mechanism. In the batch test, the reactivity of Clinoptilolite to ammonium and lead was examined with varying the particle size of Clinoptilolite. The nit weight of Clinoptilolite showed removal efficiencies of 65 % against the ammonium and 98% against lead. The effect of particle size of Clinoptilolite was not noticeable. In the column test, the permeability was examined using flexible-wall permeameters with varying the particle size of Clinoptilolite. When the washed Clinoptilolite having the diameter of 0.42-0.85 nm was mixed with Jumunjin sands in 20:80 ratio (w/w), the highest permeability of 2$\times$10$^{-3}$ -7 x 10$^{-4}$ cm/s was achieved. The reactivity and the strength property of the mixed material were investigated using fixed wall column having 8 sampling ports on the wall and the direct shear test, respectively. Clinoptilolite was found to be a suitable material for PRBs against the contaminated groundwater with ammonium and/or heavy metals.