TY - JOUR
T1 - Coupled high and low-frequency ultrasound remediation of PFAS-contaminated soils
AU - Kewalramani, Jitendra A.
AU - Wang, Boran
AU - Marsh, Richard W.
AU - Meegoda, Jay N.
AU - Rodriguez Freire, Lucia
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency Agreement # SU840140 (Remediation of PFAS Contaminated Soils and Sediments). The program manager at USEPA was Mr. Kyle Spatz. The authors would like to thank Mr. Brian McGlew, Mr. Harrison Davis and Mr. Alan Lundi at NJIT for helping us by conducting some of the experiments and Ms. Sharyl Maraviov at PCT Systems Inc., for loaning their Ultrasound bath and power supply.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - Solids such as soils and sediments contaminated with per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from exposure to impacted media, e.g., landfill leachate or biosolids, direct contaminated discharge, and contaminant transport from atmospheric deposition, have caused significant environmental pollution. Such solids can act as secondary sources of PFAS for groundwater and surface water contamination. There are currently no proven technologies that can degrade PFAS in soil and sediments in a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and energy-efficient manner. This study examines the use of coupled high and low-frequency ultrasound in desorbing and degrading PFAS in soil, thereby achieving concurrent treatment and destruction of PFAS in soil. Two common PFAS, namely perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), were used to evaluate treatment performance in soils with both low and high organic matter contents. The test results showed that the ultrasound treatment could significantly reduce PFAS concentrations in artificially contaminated soil; however, no significant degradation was achieved. Ultrasound treatment did improve desorption of PFAS from solid particles, particularly from the highly absorbent organic soil; 68.8 ± 1.8% of PFOA and 45.4 ± 4.1% of PFOS were leached from the soil after ultrasound treatment compared to only 28 ± 0.2% of PFOA and 1 ± 3.1% of PFOS after desorption in water. This work shows that sonication treatment is an effective technology for the removal of PFAS from solids, however, the presence of solids in the solid–liquid slurry can negatively impact ultrasonic cavitation, inhibiting the sonolytic degradation of desorbed PFAS.
AB - Solids such as soils and sediments contaminated with per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) from exposure to impacted media, e.g., landfill leachate or biosolids, direct contaminated discharge, and contaminant transport from atmospheric deposition, have caused significant environmental pollution. Such solids can act as secondary sources of PFAS for groundwater and surface water contamination. There are currently no proven technologies that can degrade PFAS in soil and sediments in a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and energy-efficient manner. This study examines the use of coupled high and low-frequency ultrasound in desorbing and degrading PFAS in soil, thereby achieving concurrent treatment and destruction of PFAS in soil. Two common PFAS, namely perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), were used to evaluate treatment performance in soils with both low and high organic matter contents. The test results showed that the ultrasound treatment could significantly reduce PFAS concentrations in artificially contaminated soil; however, no significant degradation was achieved. Ultrasound treatment did improve desorption of PFAS from solid particles, particularly from the highly absorbent organic soil; 68.8 ± 1.8% of PFOA and 45.4 ± 4.1% of PFOS were leached from the soil after ultrasound treatment compared to only 28 ± 0.2% of PFOA and 1 ± 3.1% of PFOS after desorption in water. This work shows that sonication treatment is an effective technology for the removal of PFAS from solids, however, the presence of solids in the solid–liquid slurry can negatively impact ultrasonic cavitation, inhibiting the sonolytic degradation of desorbed PFAS.
KW - Acoustic cavitation
KW - Emerging contaminants
KW - PFAS
KW - PFOA
KW - PFOS
KW - Pyrolysis
KW - Sediment remediation
KW - Soil remediation
KW - Sonication
KW - Sonochemical degradation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106063
DO - 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2022.106063
M3 - Article
C2 - 35738199
AN - SCOPUS:85133255230
SN - 1350-4177
VL - 88
JO - Ultrasonics Sonochemistry
JF - Ultrasonics Sonochemistry
M1 - 106063
ER -