Evaluating the Use of Electrokinetics for the Remediation of Mercury from Soil

Due to past industrial practices soils have become contaminated with mercury. This is a serious problem because few technologies exist that can remove mercury contamination. Electrokinetics offers a possible alternative. Electrokinetics is a technique using an anode and a cathode joined by a liquid medium that acts as a conduit for ion transfer. The two processes: electro-osmosis and electrochemical migration, were observed in this experiment. The soil in this study is contaminated with elemental mercury, which is only slightly soluble. Different amendments were added to increases solubility and accelerate mercury removal. This specific study focused on a continual circulation system in which the effectiveness of 4 different amendments, 0.1M KI, 0.1M NaCl, 0.1M KI/0.01M EDTA, and Control/Site water, were monitored. This poster will present preliminary results from this study. Including an explanation of the apparatus used, interpretation of visual observations, recommendations for similar bench-top experiments, and an evaluation of the amendments used.