Experimental and Theoretical Engineering of Energy-Efficient Electrochemical Process of Soil Remediation to Remove Oil Contaminants

Physicochemical and technological foundations were developed for a new energy-efficient electrochemical process of soil decontamination to remove oil and petroleum products, which does not require soil excavation or special chemical reagents. Experimental and theoretical studies characterized the dependences of the content of petroleum products in soils of various types during decontamination by passing low-density direct electric currents through the soils. The new electrochemical process of soil decontamination was proposed to be implemented in an original system in which electrodes are so arranged on a plot of land being treated that the electrical resistivity between the electrodes is reduced. A procedure was developed for calculating the energy consumption by the oil-contaminated soil treatment system, the number of electrodes, and the voltage, depending on the soil properties, the contamination area and depth, the parameters of electrodes, and the required degree of decontamination. Soil samples before and after decontamination were analyzed.