Reductive dechlorination of chlorinated hydrocarbons in aqueous solutions containing ferrous and sulfide ions

Abstract

The transformation of volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons in aqueous phase containing free ferrous and sulfide ions with and without light irradiation were investigated to evaluate the effect of these reducing ions on the dechlorination of chlorinated hydrocarbons. In the presence of the ferrous ion alone, 84% of the original carbon tetrachloride (CT) was transformed to chloroform within 33 days, and a removal efficiency of 99% was reached when the solution was irradiated by visible light. However, carbon tetrachloride did not appear to be reactive in other media containing sulfide and/or bound ferrous ions. 1,1,1-trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene were less susceptible than carbon tetrachloride to the reductive dechlorination. No transformation was observed for these two compounds in different types of media in 33 days. Oxidationreduction potential (ORP) measurements showed that carbon tetrachloride could be depleted only when ORP of the environment was below 360 mV (relative to standard hydrogen electrode). This study indicates that free ferrous ion is an active reducing agent for the dechlorination of CT, but has little effect on the transformation of 1,1,1-trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene, whereas, free sulfide and bound ferrous ions do not appear to have the capability of dechlorination for these heavily chlorinated hydrocarbons.