Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
5-31-1990
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering Science- (M.S.)
Department
Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
First Advisor
Leonard Dauerman
Second Advisor
Richard B. Trattner
Third Advisor
Su Ling Cheng
Abstract
The application of microwave technology to the remediation of soils contaminated with non-volatile organic chemicals is the subject of this thesis. It had been previously shown in this laboratory that volatile and semi-volatile organics could be steam distilled from soil. This study has been focussed on the applicability of microwave treatment of soil contaminated with non-volatile organics at relatively low temperatures achievable by in situ microwave treatment. Non-volatile toxics, like dioxin, pose their greatest danger when excavated and transported, according to the EPA, therefore, there is an urgent need for an in situ remediation process. Microwave treatment is one of the few technologies capable of effecting the desired in-situ treatment. In this study bench-scale experiments were carried out on microwave treated soil contaminated with non-volatile organics. The results have led to the formulation of the following model: a) spilled organics are adsorbed in multilayers on soil particles which are bound together by water; b) microwave treatment vaporizes the water and causes the diffusion of the non-volatile organics leading to monolayer adsorption of the organics on the soil; c) the soil heats up further to approximately 200?C, a temperature attainable by in-situ microwave treatment, causing reactions between the indigenous organics and inorganics in the soil and the monolayer adsorbed spilled organic; d) the reacted spilled organic is "chemical fixed" and is no longer extractable. The chemical fixation is inferred from the experimental data. A study to obtain direct evidence of this reaction by Multiple Reflectance Spectroscopy (MRS) combined with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is the subject of a future thesis.
This work has been carried on 9,10 - anthraquinone and methylene blue: methylene blue because it is a non-volatile salt; 9,10 - anthraquinone because it is a non-toxic compound, and also has physical and chemical properties so similar to dioxin that it was chosen as a surrogate for dioxin. Future studies will be carried out on dioxin-contaminated soil applying the methods developed in this study. The aim of this study is to provide insights into the aforestated non-volatile remediation project.
Recommended Citation
Gu, Huiping, "The application of microwave technology to the remediation of non- volatile organic-contaminated soil" (1990). Theses. 2708.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/2708
