Scale-up of electrokinetic permeable reactive barriers for the removal of organochlorine herbicide from spiked soils

This work aims to shed light on the scale-up a combined electrokinetic soil flushing process (EKSF) with permeable reactive barriers (PRB) for the treatment of soil spiked with clopyralid. To do this, remediation tests at lab (3.45 L), bench (175 L) and pilot (1400 L) scales have been carried out. The PRB selected was made of soil merged with particles of zero valent iron (ZVI) and granular activated carbon (GAC). Results show that PRB-EKSF involved electrokinetic transport and dehalogenation as the main mechanisms, while adsorption on GAC was not as relevant as initially expected. Clopyralid was not detected in the electrolyte wells and only in the pilot scale, significant amounts of clopyralid remained in the soil after 600 h of operation. Picolinic acid was the main dehalogenated product detected in the soil after treatment and mobilized by electro-osmosis, mostly to the cathodic well. The transport of volatile compounds into the atmosphere was promoted at pilot scale because of the larger soil surface exposed to the atmosphere and the electrical heating caused by ohmic losses and the larger interelectrode gap. [Display omitted] •Permeable reactive barriers combined with electrokinetic flushing can remediate spiked soils.•Electrokinetic transport and dehalogenation are the main mechanisms.•The adsorption capacity of the ZVI + GAC barrier is not relevant.•Picolinic acid is the main dehalogenation product and the main final product.•The transport of volatile compounds to the atmosphere increases with the size of the cell.