Remediation of the Alluvial Aquifer of the Sardas Landfill (Sabiñánigo, Huesca) by Surfactant Application

Joaquín Guadaño, Jorge Gómez, Jesús Fernández, David Lorenzo, Carmen M. Domínguez, Salvador Cotillas, Raúl García-Cervilla and Aurora Santos ()
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Joaquín Guadaño: EMGRISA-Empresa para la Gestión de Residuos Industriales, S.A., S.M.E., M.P., 28040 Madrid, Spain
Jorge Gómez: EMGRISA-Empresa para la Gestión de Residuos Industriales, S.A., S.M.E., M.P., 28040 Madrid, Spain
Jesús Fernández: Dirección General de Cambio Climático y Educación Ambiental, Gobierno de Aragón, 50071 Zaragoza, Spain
David Lorenzo: Chemical Engineering and Materials Department, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Carmen M. Domínguez: Chemical Engineering and Materials Department, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Salvador Cotillas: Chemical Engineering and Materials Department, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Raúl García-Cervilla: Chemical Engineering and Materials Department, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Aurora Santos: Chemical Engineering and Materials Department, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: Sardas Landfill at Sabiñánigo Huesca is polluted with Dense Non-Aqueous Liquid Phases (DNAPLs) composed of a complex mixture of chlorinated organic compounds (COCs). This DNAPL was produced as liquid waste from lindane production being dumped decades ago in the unlined landfills close to the lindane factory. This DNAPL migrated by gravity through the subsurface and accumulated in the contact between the alluvial and marls layers (about 15 m b.g.l.). Seven injections of an aqueous emulsion of a biodegradable non-ionic surfactant (E-Mulse 3 ® ) were carried out at the most polluted areas of the Sardas alluvial. Injections were carried out between April and November 2021 using different surfactant concentrations (6.7, 20, 25 and 50 g/L), injection volumes (0.2 to 7 m 3 ) and injection flow rates (0.08–0.85 m 3 /h). Injected fluids were extracted in the same well or surrounding wells, and the time elapsed between surfactant injection and extraction varied between 24 and 72 h. A total of 22 m 3 were injected into the alluvial, and more than double this injected volume was extracted. Injection and extraction points were in the contact between the marls and the alluvial layer. Extracted fluid accumulated in tanks, and phases separated. DNAPL recovered here was mobilized rather than solubilized and managed as toxic waste. The aqueous supernatant was treated in a wastewater treatment plant with physicochemical treatment (including adsorption in activated carbon) before being discharged into the environment. The transport of the injected fluids was monitored by conductivity profiles using bromide (260–538 mg·L −1 ) as a conservative tracer. High radial dispersion of the injected fluid was found. Surfactant losses by adsorption in the alluvial and absorption in DNAPL were noticed, and both surfactant and contamination did not escape from the capture zone. Monitoring since 2018 of the COCS in groundwater and the DNAPL presence in the contact between alluvial and marls layers showed a significant reduction of COCs in the treated zone with the surfactant injections.

Keywords: lindane; DNAPL; surfactant; alluvium; groundwater remediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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