A Laboratory Experiment to Investigate the Applicability of Freezing and Thawing Method for Remediation of Contaminated Ground

Abstract

Application of pump & treat is one of the typical washing technologies for remediation of contaminated soils. However, it is very difficult to perfectly wash out contaminated substances existing in soils microstructures. We believe that such problems come from existence of numerous water paths in the soil structures which ease flow of air or water without carrying contaminating substances. In order to develop an alternative method to overcome such a problem, we focus on ice segregation phenomena in a freezing soil. This paper introduces an experiment to demonstrate the applicability of the idea. NaCl was used as a pollutant material. The freezing and thawing method was compared with an existing method which is application of pressure. The experimental results showed that approximately 80% of NaCl was removed after five cycles of proposed freezing and thawing. It was demonstrated that freezing and thawing can be used as a powerful remediation method for contaminated soils.