Treatment of petroleum-contaminated soils using iron mineral catalyzed hydrogen peroxide

Abstract

Naturally-occurring iron minerals, goethite and magnetite, were used to catalyze hydrogen peroxide and initiate Fenton-like reaction of silica sand contaminated with diesel and/or kerosene in batch system. Optimum reaction conditions were investigated by varying H 2O 2 concentrations (0, 1, 7, 15, and 35wt%) and iron mineral contents (0, 1, 5 and 10wt%). Contaminant degradation in silica sand-iron mineral-H 2O 2 system was identified by determining total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration with gas chromotography. Iron mineral system was less aggressive in contaminant degradation but it was more efficient than FeSO 4 system. Magnetite system provided more strong oxidation condition than goethite system due to coexistence of Fe +2 and Fe +3 and dissolution of iron. The results indicate that iron mineral catalyzed H 2O 2 system would have a promising application to site remediation since natural soils generally contain 0.5–5 wt% of iron minerals.