Abstract
Soils in Technical Area 16 at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are severely contaminated from past explosives testing and research. Our objective was to conduct laboratory and pilot-scale experiments to determine if zerovalent iron (Fe0) could effectively transform RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) in two LANL soils that differed in physicochemical properties (Soils A and B). Laboratory tests indicated that Soil A was highly alkaline and needed to be acidified [with H2SO 4, Al2(SO4)3, or CH3COOH] before Fe0 could transform RDX. Pilot-scale experiments were performed by mixing Fe0 and contaminated soil (70 kg), and acidifying amendments with a high-speed mixer that was a one-sixth replica of a field-scale unit. Soils were kept unsaturated (soil water content = 0.30-0.34 kg kg-1) and sampled with time (0-120 d). While adding CH 3COOH improved the effectiveness of Fe0 to remove RDX in Soil A (98% destruction), CH3COOH had a negative effect in Soil B. We believe that this difference is a result of high concentrations of organic matter and Ba. Adding CH3COOH to Soil B lowered pH and facilitated Ba release from BaSO4 or BaCO3, which decreased Fe 0 performance by promoting flocculation of humic material on the iron. Despite problems encountered with CH3COOH, pilot-scale treatment of Soil B (12 100 mg RDX kg-1) with Fe0 or Fe0 + Al2(SO4)3 showed high RDX destruction (96-98%). This indicates that RDX-contaminated soil can be remediated at the field scale with Fe0 and soil-specific problems (i.e., alkalinity, high organic matter or Ba) can be overcome by adjustments to the Fe0 treatment.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1717-1725 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Quality |
Volume | 32 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2003 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Engineering
- Water Science and Technology
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Pollution
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law