Influence of remediation by electrokinetic on the chemical and geotechnical properties of clayey soil contaminated by copper sulfate

Abstract

The enhanced electrokinetic (EK) technique is an innovative approach and increasingly used in remediation of the fine-grained texture soils contaminated with different types of contaminant. In this study, the EK is enhanced by adding an intermediate compartment and using purging solutions at the electrode’s compartments. The natural clayey soil samples were obtained from Al-Ahadab oil field and artificially contaminated with two ratios of copper sulfate (66666.67 and 26666.67 mg/kg). The feasibility of using EK technique was evaluated by the efficiency of extracting copper from soil and the magnitude of recovery in the geotechnical properties of soil. The duration of remediation was continued for about 240-250 hours depending either on the continuity of electroosmosis flow or reach a constant rate of electrical current. The removal efficiency of copper from contaminated soil samples was ranged from 98.4% to 99.6%. The EK remediation technique proved a marginal impact on the specific gravity and Atterberg’s limits, but it has a significant effect on the shear strength parameters and compressibility of soil. Furthermore, the EK technique can be considered an efficient method for removing the low and high concentrations of copper sulfate from clayey soil of low permeability.