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Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Physical, Chemical and Biological Characterization of Six Biochars Produced for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites
Published on: November 28, 2014
Thermal desorption of PCB-contaminated soil with sodium hydroxide
Jie Liu1, Zhifu Qi1, Zhonghua Zhao1
1State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Institute for Thermal Power Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Abstract:
The thermal desorption was combined with sodium hydroxide to remediate polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated soil. The experiments were conducted at different temperatures ranging from 300 to 600 °C with three NaOH contents of 0.1, 0.5, and 1 %. The results showed that thermal desorption was effective for PCB removal, destruction, and detoxication, and the presence of NaOH enhanced the process by significant dechlorination. After treatment with 0.1 % NaOH, the removal efficiency (RE) increased from 84.8 % at 300 °C to 98.0 % at 600 °C, corresponding to 72.7 and 91.7 % of destruction efficiency (DE). With 1 % NaOH content treated at 600 °C, the RE and DE were 99.0 and 93.6 %, respectively. The effect of NaOH content on PCB removal was significant, especially at lower temperature, yet it weakened under higher temperature. The interaction between NaOH content and temperature influenced the PCB composition. The higher temperature with the help of NaOH effectively increased the RE and DE of 12 dioxin-like PCBs (based on WHO-TEQ).
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