The Natural Activation Ability of Subsurface Media During In-Situ Chemical Oxidation of 1,4-Dioxane

Abstract:

The ability of soils and sediments to produce in-situ activation of persulfate was investigated for treatment of 1,4-dioxane (dioxane). Experiments were conducted with both batch-reactor and column systems to examine reaction rates and activation mechanisms. Four soils and aquifer sediments were used. ICP-MS, SEM-EDS, and XRD analyses were used to characterize geochemical properties. For the batch experiments, degradation of dioxane was significantly greater in the presence of each of the four subsurface geomedia compared to the controls with no geomedia. This indicates that all four geomedia induced persulfate activation. The use of a binary oxidant system, with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, further enhanced dioxane degradation. It is hypothesized that iron associated with the geomedia is primarily responsible for activation, and that the degree of degradation enhancement relates in part to iron content. For the miscible-displacement experiments, slight retardation and minimal mass loss of persulfate was observed for transport in the column packed with the selected soil. And no dioxane degradation was observed, likely due to the low hydraulic residence time. Conversely, oxidant decomposition, sulfate generation, and dioxane degradation were observed upon injection of persulfate and H₂O₂. The results of this study indicate that geomedia can induce activation of persulfate to enhance in-situ chemical oxidation applications.