Removal of heavy metal and organic matter by electrokinetic ultrasonic remediation technology

In this study, the coupled effect of electrokinetic and ultrasonic remediation technology was investigated for removing of heavy metal and organic matter at the same time. The laboratory tests were conducted using specially designed and fabricated electrokinetic and ultrasonic devices. The electrokinetic technique was applied to remove mainly the heavy metal and the ultrasonic technique was applied to remove mainly organic substance in contaminated soil. Diesel fuel and Cd were used as a surrogate contaminant for this test. A series of laboratory experiments involving electrokinetic and electrokinetic+ultrasonic flushing test were carried out. An increase in permeability and contaminant removal rate was observed in electrokinetic+ultrasonic flushing test.