Degradation of phthalate esters and acetaminophen in river sediments using the electrokinetic process integrated with a novel Fenton-like process catalyzed by nanoscale schwertmannite.

The main objective of this study was to develop and establish an in situ remediation technology coupling nano-schwertmannite/H2O2 process and electrokinetic (EK) process for the removal of phthalates (PAEs) and acetaminophen in river sediments. Test results are given as follows: (1) injection of nano-schwertmannite slurry and H2O2 (collectively, "novel oxidant") into the anode reservoir would yield ·OH radicals that then will be diffused into the sediment compartment and further transported by the electroosmotic flow and/or electrophoresis from the anode end toward the cathode to degrade PAEs and pharmaceuticals in the sediment if any; (2) an electric potential gradient of 1.5 V cm(-1) would help the removal of PAEs and acetaminophen in the blank test, which no "novel oxidants" was added to the remediation system; (3) the practice of electrode polarity reversal would maintain neutral pH for sediment after remediation; (4) injection of equally divided dose of 10 mL novel oxidant into the anode reservoir and four injection ports on the top of sediment chamber would further enhance the removal efficiency; and (5) an extension of treatment time from 14 d to 28 d is beneficial to the removal efficiency as expected. In comparison, the remediation performance obtained by the EK-assisted nano-SHM/H2O2 oxidation process is superior to that of the batch degradation test, but is comparable with other EK integrated technologies for the treatment of same contaminants. Thus, it is expected that the EK-assisted nano-SHM/H2O2 oxidation process is a viable technology for the removal of phthalate esters and pharmaceuticals from river sediments in large-scale operations.

Remediation of phthalates in river sediment by integrated enhanced bioremediation and electrokinetic process.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of enhanced bioremediation coupling with electrokinetic process for promoting the growth of intrinsic microorganisms and removing phthalate esters (PAEs) from river sediment by adding an oxygen releasing compound (ORC). Test results are given as follows: Enhanced removal of PAEs was obtained by electrokinetics, through which the electroosmotic flow would render desorption of organic pollutants from sediment particles yielding an increased bioavailability. It was also found that the ORC injected into the sediment compartment not only would alleviate the pH value variation due to acid front and base front, but would be directly utilized as the carbon source and oxygen source for microbial growth resulting in an enhanced degradation of organic pollutants. However, injection of the ORC into the anode compartment could yield a lower degree of microbial growth due to the loss of ORC during the transport by EK. Through the analysis of molecular biotechnology it was found that both addition of an ORC and application of an external electric field can be beneficial to the growth of intrinsic microbial and abundance of microflora. In addition, the sequencing result showed that PAEs could be degraded by the following four strains: Flavobacterium sp., Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Rhodococcus sp. The above findings confirm that coupling of enhanced bioremediation and electrokinetic process could be a viable remediation technology to treat PAEs-contaminated river sediment.