ΕΡΓΑΣΤΗΡΙΟ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝΤΟΣ, ΤΜΗΜΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΩΝ ΜΗΧΑΝΙΚΩΝ, ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΠΑΤΡΩN

ΣΕΜΙΝΑΡΙΟ ΔΙΚΤΥΟΥ ΒΙΟΜΕΤ

Πέμπτη 21 Οκτωβρίου 2010, 13:30
ΑΙΘΟΥΣΑ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΑΣΕΩΝ, Τμήμα Πολιτικών Μηχανικών, Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών

Dr David WERNER, Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University

A novel approach to the recovery of degraded soil and sediment resources is the in situ stabilization of chemical pollutants through addition of a low amount of strong sorbent materials. This approach is based on the microscopic observation that persistent organic pollutants associate strongly with carbonaceous particles such as charcoal, coal or coke. Activated carbon (AC) is the strongest known carbonaceous adsorbent for POPs used to remove trace chemical pollutants in drinking water treatment or toxins from the gut in medical applications. Laboratory trials have demonstrated significant reductions in the exposure of sediment dwelling species to POPs such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or organochlorine pesticides (e.g. DDTs) after addition of a few percent by weight AC to sediment. Activated charcoal addition to soil has also been shown to reduce up-take of legacy pesticide pollutants by cucumbers. AC modified with nano-scale platinum particles and other solid materials such as manganese oxides are investigated as sorbents which would not only bind pollutants, but also catalyze the break-down of the adsorbed pollutants. Common to all these technologies is their reliance on the mass transfer of pollutants from the soil or sediment particles to the added sorbent materials where they can be strongly bound (or transformed in the case of catalysts). Understanding the rate of this mass transfer in sorbent amended soils and sediment is the key for the assessment of the feasibility and for the optimization of the design of this remediation technique, especially since significant resistance to this mass transfer of pollutants has been observed in field trials.