TCE degradation in groundwater by chelators-assisted Fenton-like reaction of magnetite: Sand columns demonstration

Abstract

Trichloroethylene (TCE) degradation in sand columns has been investigated to evaluate the potential of chelates-enhanced Fenton-like reaction with magnetite as iron source for in situ treatment of TCE-contaminated groundwater. The results showed that successful degradation of TCE in sand columns was obtained by nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA)-assisted Fenton-like reaction of magnetite. Addition of ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) resulted in an inhibitory effect on TCE degradation in sand columns. Similar to EDDS, addition of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) also led to an inhibition of TCE degradation in sand column with small content of magnetite (0.5 w.t.%), but enhanced TCE degradation in sand column with high content of magnetite (7.0 w.t.%). Additionally, the presence of NTA, EDDS and EDTA greatly decreased H2O2 uptake in sand columns due to the competition between chelates and H2O2 for surface sites on magnetite (and sand). Furthermore, the presented results show that magnetite in sand columns remained stable in a long period operation of 230 days without significant loss of performance in terms of TCE degradation and H2O2 uptake. Moreover, it was found that TCE was degraded mainly to formic acid and chloride ion, and the formation of chlorinated organic intermediates was minimal by this process.