Sustainability of construction materials: Electrodialytic technology as a tool for mortars production

The reduction of tap water consumption in all activity sectors, including the building industry, is crucial to the sustainability of water resources. Effluents from wastewater treatment plants have the potential to replace freshwater in the construction sector but they contain a critical mixture of impurities, which hampers their use in mortars production. In this work, the viability of using effluent as an alternative to potable water for the production of mortars, after electrodialytic treatment, was assessed. Electrodialytic technology (ED-T) is a proven technique for decontamination of porous and aqueous matrices. ED-T experiments were conducted with 500 mL of effluent for 6, 12 and 24 h, with a current intensity of 25 mA. The results showed that after ED-T 6 h, the removal efficiencies of critical components were above 85% of their initial concentrations. Mortar properties such as setting time, workability, flexural strength, compressive strength and morphology were obtained for 100% effluent and tap water/effluent mixtures (50:50) with and without ED-T pre-treatment. The mortars with the ED-T treated effluent showed similar initial setting times and workability, higher flexural and compressive strength compared to the mortars reference.

Environmental Electrokinetics for a sustainable subsurface

Soil and groundwater are key components in the sustainable management of the subsurface environment. Source contamination is one of its main threats and is commonly addressed using established remediation techniques such as in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO), in-situ chemical reduction (ISCR; most notably using zero-valent iron [ZVI]), enhanced in-situ bioremediation (EISB), phytoremediation, soil-washing, pump-and-treat, soil vapour extraction (SVE), thermal treatment, and excavation and disposal. Decades of field applications have shown that these techniques can successfully treat or control contaminants in higher permeability subsurface materials such as sands, but achieve only limited success at sites where low permeability soils, such as silts and clays, prevail. Electrokinetics (EK), a soil remediation technique mostly recognized in in-situ treatment of low permeability soils, has, for the last decade, been combined with more conventional techniques and can significantly enhance the performance of several of these remediation technologies, including ISCO, ISCR, EISB and phytoremediation. Herein, we discuss the use of emerging EK techniques in tandem with conventional remediation techniques, to achieve improved remediation performance. Furthermore, we highlight new EK applications that may come to play a role in the sustainable treatment of the contaminated subsurface.

Electrodialytic treatment for metal removal from sewage sludge ash from fluidized bed combustion

Sewage sludge contains several potentially hazardous compounds such as heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs, etc. However, elements with high agricultural value (P, K or Ca) are also present. During the last years, the fluidized bed sludge combustor (FBSC) is considered an effective and novel alternative to treat sewage sludge. By its use, the high amount of sludge is reduced to a small quantity of ash and thermal destruction of toxic organic constituents is obtained. Conversely, heavy metals are retained in the ash. In this work the possibility for electrodialytic metal removal for sewage sludge ash from FBSC was studied. A detailed characterization of the sewage sludge ash was done initially, determining that, with the exception of Cd, the other heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) were under the limiting levels of Danish legislation for the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. After 14 days of electrodialytic treatment, the Cd concentration was reduced to values below the limiting concentration. In all experiments the concentrations of other metals were under limiting values of the Danish legislation. It can be concluded that the electrodialytic treatment is an adequate alternative to reduce the Cd concentration in FBSC ash prior to use as fertilizer.

Electroremediation of straw and co-combustion ash under acidic conditions

Biomass, such as wood and straw, is currently used in EU as a renewable energy source for energy production and this application is expected to rise in coming years. Combined heat and power installations produce fly ash, which is considered hazardous waste. The fly ash management issue should be addressed before biomass combustion is considered a truly sustainable technology. The electrodialytic process is a remediation technique able to assist the management of fly ash. For this work, straw and co-combustion of wood ash are briefly characterized and their electrodialytic treatment is carried out under acidic conditions. Straw ashes presented high removal rates for Ca, Cu, Cr and particularly for Cd, which has been reduced to a level bellow the established by Danish regulations. Acidification also induced a high dissolution and a lower pH of the ash. Fly ash from co-combustion of wood presents similarities with wood ash alone. However, further characterization should be carried out before any comparison regarding applicable legislation. Under acidic conditions, the electrodialytic treatment was not effective for the co-combustion wood ash. The heavy metals appeared in the least soluble fraction of this ash and lowering the pH of such an alkaline material does not mean sustainability and may hinder its reuse.

Modeling of electrodialytic and dialytic removal of Cr, Cu and As from CCA-treated wood chips

A one-dimensional model is developed for simulating the electrodialytic and dialytic treatment of a saturated bed of wood chips containing chromium, copper and arsenic. The movement of Cr, Cu and As is mathematically modeled taking into account the diffusion transport resulting from the concentration gradients of their compounds and the electromigration of their ionic, simple and complex species during the operation. The model also includes the electromigration of the non-contaminant principal ionic species in the system, H(+) and OH(-), proceeding from the electrolysis at the electrodes, Na(+) and NO(3)(-) used as electrolyte solutions in the electrode compartments, and oxalate ions and protons incorporated with the oxalic acid solution during wood chips incubation. The model simulation also takes into account that OH(-) generated on the cathode, during electrodialytic remediation, is periodically neutralized by addition of nitric acid in the cathode compartment. The anion and cation-exchange membranes are simply represented as ionic filters that preclude the transport of co-ions (the cations and anions respectively) with the exception of H(+), which is retarded but considered to pass through the anion-exchange membrane.

Speciation and mobility of cadmium in straw and wood combustion fly ash

Two fly ashes from biomass combustion have been analysed regarding cadmium speciation and mobility. A fly ash from straw combustion contained 10 mg Cd/kg dry matter, and around 50% of the cadmium was leachable in water. The possible main speciation of cadmium in this fly ash was CdCl2. When adding this fly ash to agricultural soil a threat for groundwater contamination and plant uptake is existing. A fly ash from wood chip combustion had 28.6 mg Cd/kg dry matter. In this fly ash, the cadmium was bound more heavily, with only small amounts of cadmium leached in mild extractants. A possible speciation of cadmium in this fly ash was as oxide or as CdSiO3. Long-term effects and accumulation of cadmium could be a problem when adding this fly ash to agricultural or forest soils.

Removal of Cu, Pb and Zn in an applied electric field in calcareous and non-calcareous soils

The pH dependency of the removal of Cu, Zn and Pb by electrodialytic soil remediation from different industrially polluted soils was examined. From 18 experiments performed with five different soils, it was found that the order of mobilization due to a pH decrease was Zn>Cu>Pb. It was found, too, that each of the elements was removed at higher soil pH in calcareous soils (about 12% carbonates) than in soils with a carbonate content of less than 3.7%. In soils rich in carbonates, precipitation of heavy metal carbonates is an important retention mechanism and the heavy metal carbonates are dissolved at higher pH values than the pH at which heavy metals are desorbed in non-calcareous soils. Thus, the relation between the soil pH and the mobility of the heavy metal in the electric field is not only dependent on the heavy metal in focus, but also on the fraction of the heavy metal precipitated as carbonates.

Electrochemically enhanced oxidation reactions in sandy soil polluted with mercury

For remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals, the electrodialytic remediation (EDR) method is a highly relevant method, see e.g. Hansen et al. (Hansen HK, Ottosen LM, Kliem BK, Villumsen A. Electrodialytic remediation of soils polluted with Cu, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Zn. J Chem Tech Biotechnol 1997;70:67-73). During the process the heavy metals are transferred to the pore water in dissolved form or attached to colloids and move within the applied electric field. The method is found to be useful in many soil types, but has its strength in fine-grained soils. It is exactly in such soils that other remediation methods fail. Four cell experiments were made in order to investigate how relevant the method is for a more sandy soil and if it is suitable for non-ionic heavy metals such as elemental mercury. The duration was 27 days for two of the experiments and two experiments lasted 54 days, and the mercury within the soil was initially 1200-1900 mg kg(-1), of which 84% was elemental Hg. To monitor the process the pseudo-total mercury concentration was distinguished between elemental mercury and non-metallic mercury species by thermodesorption. During the electrodialytic treatment an increase of the content of non-metallic mercury occurred and a corresponding decrease of the content of elemental mercury which indicates a transformation of the latter species into any other non-metallic species. Generally, oxidation of Hg by dissolved oxygen in a solution is kinetically inhibited and thus quite slow. The redistribution of Hg was closely connected to a decrease of soil pH during the experiments. This corresponds very well to the thermodynamic calculations from which it was found that a decrease in the pH of the soil will result in an increase in the oxidation rate of elemental Hg. Results from this investigation show that the electrodialytic remediation method alone is not efficient in situations with sandy soils containing elemental mercury. As a solution for this problem it is suggested to add chloride to the soil system. Chloride would act as a complexing agent avoiding precipitation and enhancing the dissolution of precipitates as well as elemental mercury.