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Published on: May 15, 2017
Column test-based optimization of the permeable reactive barrier (PRB) technique for remediating groundwater
Dan Zhou1, Yan Li1, Yinbo Zhang2
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen, University, 135 Xin'gang RD.W., Guangzhou 510275, PR China; Key Laboratory for Aquatic Product Safety of Ministry of Education, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen, University, 135 Xin'gang RD.W., Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
Abstract:
We investigated the optimum composition of permeable reactive barrier (PRB) materials for remediating groundwater heavily contaminated by landfill leachate, in column tests using various mixtures of zero-valent iron (ZVI), zeolite (Zeo) and activated carbon (AC) with 0.01-0.25, 3.0-5.0 and 0.7-1.0mm grain sizes, respectively. The main contributors to the removal of organic/inorganic contaminants were ZVI and AC, and the optimum weight ratio of the three PRB materials for removing the contaminants and maintaining adequate hydraulic conductivity was found to be 5:1:4. Average reductions in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and contents of total nitrogen (TN), ammonium, Ni, Pb and 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from test samples using this mixture were 55.8%, 70.8%, 89.2%, 70.7%, 92.7% and 94.2%, respectively. We also developed a systematic method for estimating the minimum required thickness and longevity of the PRB materials. A ≥ 309.6 cm layer with the optimum composition is needed for satisfactory longevity, defined here as meeting the Grade III criteria (the Chinese National Bureau of Standards: GB/T14848/93) for in situ treatment of the sampled groundwater for ≥ 10 years.
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