Permeable sorption barriers for in-situ remediation of polluted groundwater - reactive materials and reaction mechanisms

Passive groundwater remediation using treatment walls is a new and innovative technology. Treatment walls are subsurface constructions situated across the flow paths of contaminant plumes. The contaminants are removed from the groundwater flow by geochemical processes taking place in the reactive material of the barrier filling. Sorption barriers are permeable reactive walls utilising retention mechanisms that lead to a fixation of the target contaminants to the matrix of the reactive barrier material. The choice of reactive materials and retention mechanisms depends on the type of contamination to be treated by the barrier system. Possible materials for the use as reactive components in sorption barriers, such as activated carbon, natural zeolites, fly-ash zeolites, iron oxides/oxyhydrates, diatomites, phosphates, clay minerals, and others, are investigated to determine their sorption effectiveness and capacity. The potential of surface modifications to enhance the sorptive properties is discussed.

• 1 TREATMENT WALLS

• 2 RETENTION MECHANISMS

• 3 REACTIVE MATERIALS

• 4 APPLICATION

• 5 REFERENCES