Soil washing in combination with homogeneous Fenton-like oxidation for the removal of 2,4,4′-trichlorodiphenyl from soil contaminated with capacitor oil

Detoxification by chemical oxidation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in contaminated soils is very difficult and inefficient because PCBs typically associate with the solid phase or exist as non-aqueous-phase liquids due to their low solubility and slow desorption rates, and thus, they are difficult to remove from soils by using traditional, water-based elution techniques. Surfactant can enhance washing efficiency of PCBs from contaminated soils. This study used Brij 58, Brij 30, Tween 80, and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD) to solubilize 2,4,4′-trichlorodiphenyl (PCB28) from soil contaminated with capacitor oil into solution. The feasibility of PCB28 oxidation in soil washing wastewater through a Fe 3+ -catalyzed Fenton-like reaction was subsequently examined. Washing with 10 g L −1 Brij 58 solution showed the highest extraction efficiency (up to 61.5 %) compared with that of the three other surfactants. The total concentration of PCB28 in contaminated soil at 25 °C after 48-h extraction was 286 mg L −1 . In contrast to conditions in which no washing agent was added, addition of the four washing agents decreased the efficiency of PCB28 degradation by the Fenton-like reaction, with the decrease due to addition of 10 g L −1 Brij 58 solution being the smallest. The optimal concentration of H 2 O 2 for preventing its useless decomposition was found to be 50 mM. The efficiency of PCB28 removal was lower when the initial concentration of PCB28 treated in the Fenton-like reaction was higher. The degradation efficiencies of PCB28 at initial concentrations of 0.1, 10, and 176 mg L −1 in 10 g L −1 Brij 58 solution at 25 °C and pH 3.0 and 9 h of reaction using 50 mM H 2 O 2 were 64.1, 42.0, and 34.6 %, respectively. This result indicates that soil washing combined with Fenton-like oxidation may be a practical approach for the remediation of PCB-contaminated soil.