Electrokinetic remediation of contaminated soils

Electrokinetic remediation of contaminated soil has been demonstrated for saturated and unsaturated sand in preliminary experiments using a novel transport visualization technique. Large anionic organic dyes were mixed with a portion of soil and the rate of electromigration of the dye in an imposed electric field was monitored photographically. One of the fastest current-normalized electromigration rates was measured in the driest sand, which contained 7% water by-weight. This moisture content is typical of the moisture content in the unsaturated zone of subsurface native soils found in New Mexico. The characteristics of the electromigration were similar in both the saturated and unsaturated sand. The leading edge of the dye migration front was diffuse while the trailing edge was sharp and concentrated. This and other observed behavior may indicate a concentration effect, where the electromigration rate of dilute dye is greater than that of concentrated dye. The soil left after the trailing edge passed seemed to contain no residual dye in both the saturated and unsaturated cases. The success of demonstrating electromigration of large molecules in unsaturated soil is encouraging and indicates that it may be feasible to remediate in situ anionic heavy metals such as chromate from unsaturated soil with electrokinetic techniques