Surfactant effects on electrokinetic processes in clay-rich soils remediation

The present work concerns the realisation of an equipment suitable for the choice of surfactants to be employed in the remediation of polluted soils by soil washing processes. The experimental activity has been focused to verify the surfactants efficiency in electrokinetic processes applied in low porosity soils, polluted with used vehicle oil. The equipment consents to estimate low electroosmotic permeabilities, electrical current and to analyse the electrolytic solutions. The concentration of the chemical species reached in both anodic and cathodic cells allows a more accurate evaluation of the ion mobility through the soil. The apparatus realised has been shown to be a useful instrument capable of providing directions for the choice of surfactants in electrokinetic soil remediation. The choice of an anionic surfactant for the oil removal has shown promising result.