Natural Processes and Systems for Hazardous Waste Treatment PDF
Preview Natural Processes and Systems for Hazardous Waste Treatment
N P ATURAL ROCESSES S AND YSTEMS FOR H W AZARDOUS ASTE T REATMENT SPONSORED BY Natural Processes and Systems for Hazardous Waste Treatment Task Committee of the Environmental Council Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers EDITED BY Say Kee Ong Rao Y. Surampalli Alok Bhandari Pascale Champagne R. D. Tyagi Irene Lo Published by the American Society of Civil Engineers Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Natural processes and systems for hazardous waste treatment / sponsored by Natural Processes and Systems for Hazardous Waste Treatment Task Committee of the Environmental Council [and] Environmental and Water Resources Institute (EWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers ; edited by Say Kee Ong … [et al.]. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7844-0939-8 ISBN-10: 0-7844-0939-0 1. Hazardous wastes--Natural attenuation. 2. Hazardous wastes--Biodegradation. 3. Hazardous wastes--Environmental aspects. I. Ong, Say Kee. II. Environmental and Water Resources Institute (U.S.). Natural Processes and Systems for Hazardous Waste Treatment Task Committee. TD1060.N386 2008 628.4'2--dc22 2007041025 American Society of Civil Engineers 1801 Alexander Bell Drive Reston, Virginia, 20191-4400 www.pubs.asce.org Any statements expressed in these materials are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of ASCE, which takes no responsibility for any statement made herein. No reference made in this publication to any specific method, product, process, or service constitutes or implies an endorsement, recommendation, or warranty thereof by ASCE. The materials are for general information only and do not represent a standard of ASCE, nor are they intended as a reference in purchase specifications, contracts, regulations, statutes, or any other legal document. ASCE makes no representation or warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or utility of any information, apparatus, product, or process discussed in this publication, and assumes no liability therefore. This information should not be used without first securing competent advice with respect to its suitability for any general or specific application. Anyone utilizing this information assumes all liability arising from such use, including but not limited to infringement of any patent or patents. ASCE and American Society of Civil Engineers—Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Photocopies and reprints. You can obtain instant permission to photocopy ASCE publications by using ASCE’s online permission service (http://pubs.asce.org/permissions/requests/). Requests for 100 copies or more should be submitted to the Reprints Department, Publications Division, ASCE, (address above); email: [email protected]. A reprint order form can be found at http://pubs.asce.org/support/reprints/. Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 13: 978-0-7844-0939-8 ISBN 10: 0-7844-0939-0 Manufactured in the United States of America. Preface Man is constantly creating new chemical compounds to meet specific industrial applications and for human uses. Release of these compounds into the environment is inevitable resulting in contamination of natural resources, including soils and groundwater. The fate of these compounds and their impact on human health and the environment will remain an important global ecological concern. There is a need to understand whether these compounds will persist in the environment or will eventually break down to innocuous compounds. Many compounds degrade in the presence of various natural processes. The ASCE’s Technical Committee on Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste identified natural processes as an important area that will be of interest to practicing professionals and the book will serve as a reference and as a text for undergraduate or graduate courses. This book presents a discussion of the various natural processes for the attenuation and degradation of hazardous compounds and its application in inexpensive natural systems. The organization of this book is based on the types of natural processes with C hapter 1 introducing the topic. Chapter 2 presents a brief discussion on sorption, sequestration and binding of organic compounds to soils and sediments. Chapter 3 explores oxidation-reduction reactions and precipitation while Chapter 4 discusses biodegradation and bioassimilation of hazardous compounds. Chapter 5 discusses photolysis and photocatalytic processes. Phyto-process and phyto-assimilation are discussed in Chapter 6. An extension of phyto-processes is the application of wetlands for the treatment of wastewater and contaminated groundwater. This is discussed in Chapter 7. The final chapter discusses the various physical processes such as diffusion and dispersion and the application of natural attenuation. The editors acknowledge the hard work and patience of the all authors who have contributed to this book. - SKO, RS, AB, PC, RDT and IL iii Contributing Authors Alok Bhandari, Department of Civil Engineering, Kansas State University Kang Xia, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia Say Kee Ong, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University Irene M. C. Lo, Department of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Keith C. K. Lai, Department of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Feng Mao, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University Pascale Champagne, Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada Shankha K. Banerji, University of Missouri, Colombia Rao Y. Surampalli, US Environmental Protection, Kansas City, MO R. D. Tyagi, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, Québec, Canada Bala Subramanian, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, Québec, Canada S. Yan, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université du Québec, Québec, Canada Kshipra Misra, Naval Materials Research Laboratory, Defense Research and Development Organization, India Satinder K. Brar, Naval Materials Research Laboratory, Defense Research and Development Organization, India iv Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Natural Processes 1 Chapter 2 Sorption, Sequestration and Binding of 4 Contaminants to Soils 2.1 Introduction 4 2.2 Organic Contaminants 5 2.3 Desorption 17 2.4 Inorganic Contaminants 22 2.5 Implications for Site Remediation 32 Chapter 3 Couples of Precipitation-Dissolution and 41 Reduction-Oxidation Reactions 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Precipitation and Dissolution 42 3.3 Reduction and Oxidation 46 3.4 Removal of Contaminants by Reduction and Precipitation 55 Processes 3.5 Natural Occurring of Reduction and Precipitation Processes 73 3.6 Engineering Application 76 3.7 Summary 83 Chapter 4 Biological Assimilation and Degradation 94 4.1 Introduction 94 4.2 Definitions 96 4.3 Common Degradation Pathways and Mechanisms 97 4.4 Rates of Transformation and Half-Lives 107 4.5 Pollutants and Persistency/Bioavailability 108 4.6 Factors Affecting Degradation 108 4.7 Case Studies 109 4.8 Conclusion 114 Chapter 5 Photolysis and Photocatalytic Degradation 120 5.1 Introduction 120 5.2 Basic Principles of Photochemistry 120 5.3 Light Absorption in Natural Water Bodies 124 5.4 Photochemical Reaction in Natural Water Bodies 126 5.5 Photoreactions of Organic Compounds 131 v 5.6 Factors Influencing Photolysis 144 5.7 Case Studies 148 5.8 Conclusion and Implications 152 Chapter 6 Phytoprocesses 161 6.1 Introduction 161 6.2 Definitions 161 6.3 Influence of Environmental Factors Affecting Phytoprocesses 168 6.4 Processes Responsible for Contaminant Removal/Detoxification 170 6.5 Mechanisms Responsible for Phytoprocesses 171 6.6 Common Compounds Remediated by Phytoprocesses 173 6.7 Case Studies 179 6.8 Field Applications of Phytoprocesses 181 Chapter 7 Wetlands 189 7.1 Introduction 189 7.2 Wetland System Definitions 189 7.3 Wetland Structure and Function 197 7.4 Constituent Cycling and Removal in Wetlands 208 7.5 Case Studies 240 7.6 Conclusion 247 Chapter 8 Physical Processes and Natural Attenuation 257 8.1 Introduction 257 8.2 Diffusion 257 8.3 Advection 259 8.4 Hydrodynamic Dispersion 260 8.5 Volatilization 264 8.6 Advection-Dispersion-Reaction Equation 266 8.7 Application of Attenuation Processes 267 8.8 Case Study: Natural Attenuation of a Coal-Tar-Contaminated Site 270 8.9 Summary 274 Index 277 vi CHAPTER 1 Introduction SAY KEE ONG 1.1 Background There are about 87,000 chemicals listed in the inventory of the Toxic Substances Control Act and about 10% or about 8,300 of the listed chemicals are currently being manufactured and sold in significant amounts (Hogue, 2007). The acute and long term effects of some of these chemicals are not known although the physical-chemical and biological properties of these chemicals may provide clues as to their persistency and impact on humans and the environment. Of interest is the fate and transport of these chemicals when they are dispersed in the environment. Chemical are released into the environment through many routes: during the manufacture and processing of the chemicals, industrial use of these chemicals, atmospheric discharge from industrial facilities, wastewater discharges, disposal of products containing these chemicals, and use of products containing these chemicals. In the environment, there are many natural processes that can attenuate these chemicals. Some chemicals are completely attenuated while some chemicals are sufficiently persistent and do not degrade in the environment. Some chemicals are partially attenuated. The attenuated compound or daughter compounds may undergo further attenuation or become more susceptible to attenuation and degradation by processes that are unable to degrade the parent compound. In some cases, these daughter products formed may be more toxic than the parent chemicals. 1.2 Natural Processes Figure 1 provides a general illustration of the different natural processes in the environment that may attenuate organic and inorganic chemicals. Chemicals dispersed into the media (air and water) are diluted through mixing which reduces the concentration of the chemicals in the environment but the chemicals are not destroyed in the process. Dispersion plays an important role in distributing the chemicals in air and water. Lowering the chemical concentration reduces their impact on the environment and humans and reduces acute toxicity situations. However, the total mass of the chemical in the environment remains the same unless it is degraded. Chemicals that are persistent may move up the food chain, eventually manifesting in 1 2 NATURAL PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT humans and resulting in chronic toxicity. Photolysis and photocatalysis are important attenuation pathways in the environment for the degradation of organic chemicals. Chemicals dispersed in lakes and sediments are subjected to oxidation or reduction environments which may impact the chemical. Organic chemicals that are highly oxidized are more likely to degrade in a reductive environment while organic chemicals that are neutral or reduced are more likely to be oxidized in an oxidizing environment. Inorganic chemicals which are toxic in one form may be made less toxic or more toxic under different oxidizing/reducing conditions. In addition, under different redox environment and in the presence of other chemicals, inorganic chemicals may precipitate and be removed from one medium into another, making them less available. Other than precipitation, many chemicals are sorbed by the various solid media such as soils and sediments. These chemicals may be strongly sorbed to soils or sediment making them unavailable and therefore their impacts are diminished. Figure 1.1 Various Natural Attenuation Processes Degradation by various organisms is an important natural process for the attenuation of organic chemicals. Microorganisms in the environment can acclimatize to these organic chemicals by using them as carbon and energy sources. In some cases, these organic compounds may be degraded fortuitously through cometabolism. Higher forms of lives such as plants can be used to attenuate both inorganic and organic NATURAL PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATMENT 3 chemicals through accumulate of the chemicals in plant tissues or degraded at the roots of the plants or within the plant. One common system that has been used for the attenuation of waste is using wetlands plants. This book describes the various natural processes providing information on the basic principles of each processes and examples of chemicals that are attenuated by these processes. In some chapters, these processes are elaborated further by illustrating the use of these processes in an engineered system. There is much to be learned from nature. We still do not sufficiently understand some of these processes or have harness their potential. We also have not fully identified or characterized the various microorganisms in the environment that can assimilate and degrade these anthropogenic chemicals. Learning from the natural processes of the environment and applying them will provide a more sustainable approach in dealing with the problem of hazardous compounds in the environment. References Hogue, C., (2007) The future of US chemical regulation, C&EN, 85(2):34-38
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