Physical Separation of Contaminated Soil Using a Washing Ejector Based on Hydrodynamic Cavitation

Kanghee Cho, Hyunsoo Kim, Oyunbileg Purev, Nagchoul Choi and Jaewon Lee
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Kanghee Cho: Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Hyunsoo Kim: Department of Energy and Resource Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea
Oyunbileg Purev: Department of Energy and Resource Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju 61452, Korea
Nagchoul Choi: Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
Jaewon Lee: JIU Corporation, Seoul 07528, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: A washing ejector is a pre-treatment technology used to remediate contaminated soil by separating fine particles. The washing ejector developed in this study is a device that utilizes fast liquid jets to disperse soil aggregates by cavitation flow. The cavitation phenomenon is affected by the Bernoulli principle, and the liquid pressure decreases with the increase in kinetic energy. The cavitating flow of the fluid through the Ventrui nozzle can remove surface functional groups and discrete particles. The main methodology involves the removal of small particles bound to coarse particles and the dispersion of soil aggregates. Particle collisions occur on the surface soil, such as the metal phase that is weakly bound to silicate minerals. It was observed that the dispersed soil affected the binding of toxic heavy metals and the mineralogical characteristics of the soil. The quantity of oxides, organic matter, and clay minerals affected the properties of the soil. An almost 40–60% removal efficiency of total metals (As, Zn, and Pb) was obtained from the contaminated soils. After treatment by a washing ejector, the volume of fine particles was reduced by 28–47%. When the contaminants are associated with particulates, separation using a washing ejector can be more effective. Therefore, physical separation improves the removal efficiency of heavy metals from soil aggregates.

Keywords: washing ejector; cavitation; physical separation; remediation; heavy metals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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