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Urban wastes to remediate industrial sites: a case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contamination and a new process

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Abstract

The objective of the present paper was to investigate the potential of urban wastes derived soluble bioorganic substances (SBO) to perform as auxiliaries for enhanced washing of urban soil contaminated by industrial activities. The second objective was to show how the SBO could be used for remediating the environmental impact caused by industrial activities and, at the same time, be compatible with the real-world situation demanding zero waste processes. The SBO, isolated from four urban biowastes, were characterized for their lipophilic/hydrophilic (LH) and aliphatic/aromatic C ratios, and for their surface activity properties. Soil, containing about 0.45 % w/w polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), was sampled from a dismissed coal gasification site. The efficiency of the SBO for washing the contaminated soil was investigated. The most lipophilic SBO, in spite of the highest surface activity, was the least efficient. The products having lower LH, poorer surface activity, but higher concentration of aromatic C were more efficient. All SBO allowed developing a two steps process. This comprised soil washing, and the recovery and chemical treatment of the washing solution, to yield a PAHs–SBO precipitate and the clean water phase to recycle to further soil washing. Data were obtained under the same experimental conditions using Triton X-100 commercial surfactant. The results indicated that, although the commercial surfactant is the most efficient in the soil washing step, it does not allow removal of PAHs from the recovered washing solution. On the contrary, 95–99 % PAHs removal from the recovered SBO washing solutions is attained.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Cipe 2006 and MISEICECRUI 2007 funds.

Nomenclature

SBO:

Soluble bioorganic substances

UBW:

Urban biowastes

FORSU:

Organic humid fraction of urban refuse obtained by separate source collection

FORSUD:

Digestate from FORSU anaerobic digestion

CV:

Compost obtained from urban gardening and park trimming residues (V)

CVD:

Compost obtained from FORSUD and V mix aged for 110 day

CVDF:

Compost obtained from FORSUD, V and municipal sewage sludge (F) mix aged for 110 days

Af/Ar:

Aliphatic to total aromatic C ratio

NOM:

Natural soil-organic matter

PAHs:

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

UF:

Ultrafiltration

γ :

Surface tension

Cs:

Added surfactant concentration

LH:

Lipophilic/hydrophilic C ratio

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125, Turin, Italy

    E. Montoneri, L. Tomasso, N. Colajanni & I. Zelano

  2. Dipartimento di Alessandria, ARPA Piemonte, Polo Bonifiche, Spalto Marengo 33, 15100, Alessandria, Italy

    F. Alberi & G. Cossa

  3. ARPA Piemonte, Area Funzionale Tecnica, Via Pio VII 9, 10135, Turin, Italy

    R. Barberis

Authors
  1. E. Montoneri
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  2. L. Tomasso
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  3. N. Colajanni
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  4. I. Zelano
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  5. F. Alberi
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  6. G. Cossa
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  7. R. Barberis
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Correspondence to E. Montoneri.

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Montoneri, E., Tomasso, L., Colajanni, N. et al. Urban wastes to remediate industrial sites: a case of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contamination and a new process. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 11, 251–262 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-013-0211-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-013-0211-6

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