Remediation of lead and cadmium from simulated groundwater in loess region in northwestern China using permeable reactive barrier filled with environmentally friendly mixed adsorbents

Abstract

Permeable reactive barrier (PRB) is potentially effective for groundwater remediation, especially using environmentally friendly mixed fillers in representative areas, such as semi-arid loess region in northwestern China. The mixed materials, including corn straw (agricultural wastes), fly ash (industrial wastes), zeolite synthesized from fly ash (reutilized products), and iron-manganese nodule derived from loess (materials with regional characteristics) in northwestern China, were chosen as PRB media to reduce the contents of lead and cadmium in simulated groundwater. A series of lab-scale column experiments were investigated, and the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the working process; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were applied to further reveal the reaction mechanism. It shows that the purification efficiencies are more acceptable when the concentrations of lead and cadmium are approximately 7 and 0.7 mg/L, respectively, at 25 °C in weakly acidic solution, and functional groups of -OH and C=C play an important role for contaminants removal. The mixed adsorbents used are effective to remove lead and cadmium in groundwater. This is the first report on the removal of lead and cadmium from groundwater in loess region in northwestern China using PRB filled with environmentally friendly mixed adsorbents.

Reaction medium for permeable reactive barrier remediation of groundwater polluted by heavy metals

“…Frontiers in Environmental Science frontiersin.org to the research and development of environmentally friendly materials (Fan et al, 2018) developed a new type of environmentally friendly filler, with corn straw, fly ash, synthetic zeolite, loess ferromanganese nodules and other mixed materials as active media. Its removal mechanism is mainly complexation and electrostatic attraction, with greater than 90% removal rate of Pb(II) and Cd(II).…”

Evaluation for the Removal Efficiency of VOCs and Heavy Metals by Zeolites-Based Materials in the Wastewater: A Case Study in the Tito Scalo Industrial Area

“…With respect to other remediation technologies, the PRB option represents the optimum solution in longevity and cost and does not suffer from back diffusion and rebound issues [67][68][69][70]. It has been reported that the PRB system could be installed efficiently with about 60% cheaper cost than that of the equivalent Pump and Treat system [71][72][73][74][75].…”

Bioremediation of toluene by bioaugmentation, biostimulation and natural attenuation

“…PAHs were successfully removed from water by using PRB materials of wheat straw and coconut shell [4]. Corn straw, fly ash, Fe-Mn, and zeolite were used as PRB materials to reduce the concentrations of Pb and Cd from groundwater [5]. Steel manufacturing basic oxygen furnace sludge (BOFS) was tested as a PRB material to remove Cr+6 from soil [6].…”