The Use of Thermal Water Vapor Arc Plasma as an Oily Soil Remediation Technique

Abstract

Contaminated soil remediation with plasma is a new and little explored method. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate thermal water vapor arc plasma suitability to remediate soil polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons (diesel). Also, the impact of different initial pollutant concentrations was investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data showed that soil surface morphology depends on diesel fuel concentration in the soil. Results obtained with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) indicated that carbon content in soil decreased after the treatment process and became similar to the carbon content in the clean soil. Furthermore, the measurements taken with gas analyzer revealed the thermal water vapor arc plasma suitability to remediate contaminated soil as well as generate by-product—synthesis gas (H2 + CO). It was observed that the amount of generated synthesis gas depends on the soil moisture content.

Keywords

• soil remediation
• petroleum hydrocarbons
• synthesis gas
• water vapor
• thermal arc plasma