Removal of Immiscible Contaminants from Sandy Soils Monitored by Means of Dielectric Measurements
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 8
Abstract
The main objective of this paper is to explore the potential application of electromagnetic waves to evaluate the effect of contaminant removal in granular soils. Thus, various specimens of saturated silica sand were prepared using paraffin oil and lubricant oil as contaminants. Four flushing fluids were used to remove the contaminants from sand columns: Deionized water, water-detergent, water-detergent-alcohol solution, and water vapor. Dielectric permittivity was measured at different stages of the removal process at the frequency from . The measured permittivity was compared with that determined for clean and fully contaminated specimens. A theoretical mixture formula was calibrated and implemented to estimate the volume fraction of contaminant present in the pore fluid. It is concluded in this work that dielectric parameters reflect the contamination level of the soil for the nonpolar organic compounds used here. Measurement of permittivity allows us to determine that the inclusion of alcohol and detergent in the displacing fluid improved the removal efficiency. However, water vapor was the most efficient removal agent.
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Acknowledgments
The measurements of dielectric permittivity were performed at the particulate Media Research Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology, supervised by Professor Carlos Santamarina. The writers thank CONICET and SECyT-UNC for the financial support of this research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 8 • August 2006
Pages: 931 - 939
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 17, 2005
Accepted: Jan 9, 2006
Published online: Aug 1, 2006
Published in print: Aug 2006
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