Degradation of multi-DNAPLs by a UV/persulphate/ethanol system with the additional injection of a base solution

This study was conducted to investigate the inhibited influences on and solution to the degradation of four types of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) (i.e. perchloroethylene [PCE], trichloroethylene [TCE], chloroform [CF], and carbon tetrachloride [CT]) all at the same instance in groundwater (GW). Degradations of DNAPLs in de-ionized water (DW) and GW were carried out by applying an ultraviolet radiation-activated persulphate (UV/PS) system. PCE and TCE were degraded by over 90% and CT was only degraded by 25% in both DW and GW. However, CF was degraded by over 90% in DW, while it was only degraded by 50% in GW. First of all, degradations with an inorganic anion (either Cl- or HCO3-) indicated that the lower degradation of CF in GW was caused by the existence of the chloride ion. Moreover, the low CF degradation in GW was overcome by the additional injection of a base solution (sodium hydroxide [NaOH]) into the UV/PS system. The results showed that PCE, TCE, and CF were degraded by over 90%, respectively, when a molar ratio of [base]0:[PS]0 was larger than 0.5:1, but CT was still not effectively degraded in the UV/PS system. To achieve effective CT degradation, UV/PS with the ethanol (EtOH) system was evaluated and it was found that it degraded CT over 90%. However, at this time, CF was not effectively degraded in the UV/PS/EtOH system. Finally, degradations of DNAPLs in the UV/PS/EtOH system with the additional injection of a base solution were conducted and it showed that multi-DNAPLs were degraded by over 90%, respectively, when the molar ratio of [PS]0:[EtOH]0:[base]0 was 1:1:3.