title: Remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils by ex situ microwave treatment: technical, energy and economic considerations.
abstract: In this study, the remediation of diesel-polluted soils was investigated by simulating an ex situ microwave (MW) heating treatment under different conditions, including soil moisture, operating power and heating duration. Based on experimental data, a technical, energy and economic assessment for the optimization of full-scale remediation activities was carried out. Main results show that the operating power applied significantly influences the contaminant removal kinetics and the moisture content in soil has a major effect on the final temperature reachable during MW heating. The first-order kinetic model showed an excellent correlation (r2 > 0.976) with the experimental data for residual concentration at all operating powers and for all soil moistures tested. Excellent contaminant removal values up to 94.8% were observed for wet soils at power higher than 600 W for heating duration longer than 30 min. The use of MW heating with respect to a conventional ex situ thermal desorption treatment could significantly decrease the energy consumption needed for the removal of hydrocarbon contaminants from soils. Therefore, the MW treatment could represent a suitable cost-effective alternative to the conventional thermal treatment for the remediation of hydrocarbon-polluted soil.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Falciglia
authors.forename: F G A
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Vagliasindi
mesh_terms: D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis*; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007700:Kinetics; D008872:Microwaves; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D005742:Gasoline; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants