Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Descontaminación de suelos
contaminados
2 Tratamientos
La disyuntiva que se presenta frente a un suelo contaminado es recuperarlo o
destruirlo. En un principio ha prevalecido la última opción, mientras que en los
últimos años se ha prestado una especial atención a las técnicas de recuperación
que posibilitan su reutilización.
Técnicas de aislamiento
Para evitar que la contaminación se propague desde los suelos contaminados
estos pueden ser almacenados en vertederos apropiados o sellados in situ o
destruidos totalmente.
La técnica del sellado trata al suelo con un agente que lo encapsula y lo aísla. El
suelo es excavado, la zona se sella con un impermeabilizante y se redeposita el
suelo. Para desarrollar las barreras de aislamiento se ha utilizado diversas
sustancias, como el cemento, cal, plásticos, arcilla, etc. El procedimiento tiene el
inconveniente que se pueden producir grietas por las que los contaminantes
pueden fugarse.
La propia filosofía de estas técnicas (persigue la eliminación del suelo) las hace
sólo recomendable en situaciones extremas.
En otras ocasiones se realiza el aislamiento directamente sobre los niveles de
aguas freáticas. Mediante bombeos exhaustivos se consigue deprimir los niveles
freáticos para alejarlos del suelo y subsuelo contaminados. El agua bombeada es
tratada para eliminar su contaminación.
Técnicas de descontaminación
Básicamente se utilizan cinco métodos para la recuperación de los suelos
contaminados:
Extracción
Tratamiento químico
Tratamiento electroquímico
Tratamiento térmico
Tratamiento microbiológico
Tratamientos in situ
Tratamientos on site
Se trata de procedimientos muy sencillos pero para que sean efectivos requieren
que los suelos sean permeables y que las sustancias contaminantes tengan
suficiente movilidad. Además, no son métodos válidos cuando el suelo presenta
una alta capacidad de adsorción.
Aireación
Se considera un método de volatilización pasiva para contaminantes volátiles. El
suelo se excava y se vierte una fina capa, de unos 20 cm, sobre una superficie
impermeable.
Arrastre
Consiste en inyectar un gas para arrastrar a los contaminantes. Generalmente se
utiliza aire y vapor de agua. El aire penetra desde la superficie del terreno y se
fuerza su circulación al succionarlo a través de unos pozos que se excavan.
Según E, de Miguel García (1995) es un método muy sencillo, que usa una
tecnología estandar y fácil de adquirir. Posibilita tratar grandes volúmenes de
suelo a un coste razonable, produciendo una alteración mínima en el terreno.
Lavado
Consiste en inyectar agua en el suelo. El agua moviliza a los contaminantes y
luego se extrae y se depura.
Este tratamiento también puede llevarse a cabo como técnica ex situ. El suelo
excavado es tratado con una solución acuosa en un tanque. Se tamiza para
separar las fracciones más gruesas (generalmente, superiores a los 20 mm de
diámetro). Los materiales finos se mezclan con un fluido lavador y
posteriormente son aclarados. Después se separan las arenas, que tienen una
capacidad muy baja para retener contaminantes. Las arcillas y los limos
continúan en el proceso de depuración y finalmente los materiales que conserven
todavía un alto porcentaje de contaminantes son separados para su aislamiento en
vertederos controlados (figura). Esta técnica es útil para una amplia gama de
compuestos contaminantes como los metales pesados, cianuros metálicos,
disolventes nitrogenados, hidrocarburos aromáticos, gasolinas, aceites minerales,
PBC (productos organoclorados, como los policlorobifenilos), etc. Los fluidos
utilizados son muy diversos dependiendo del tipo de contaminante: agua,
disoluciones acuosas, disolventes orgánicos, compuestos quelantes, productos
tensoactivos, ácidos y bases (E. de Miguel García. 1995).
Tratamiento químico
Se trata de depurar el suelo mediante la degradación de los contaminantes por
reacciones químicas. Frecuentemente se trata de reacciones de oxidación de los
compuestos orgánicos.
Tratamiento electroquímico
El desplazamiento de los contaminantes se logra mediante la creación de campos
eléctricos.
Migración
Electroósmosis
Movimiento del líquido en relación a las superficies sólidas del campo eléctrico.
Se produce la movilización del líquido en masa como consecuencia de la
interacción con las paredes de los poros. En las superficies desequilibradas de las
partículas del suelo predominan las cargas negativas y atraen al líquido hacia el
cátodo que se comporta como si fuese un gran catión. Es este el efecto más
importante.
Electroforesis
Tratamiento térmico
Busca la destrucción de los contaminantes mediante el suministro de calor.
Tratamiento microbiológico
Consiste en potenciar el desarrollo de microorganismos con capacidad de
degradación de contaminantes (bioremediación). Se puede o favorecer la
actividad de los microorganismos presentes o introducir nuevas especies. Para
favorecer las acciones bióticas se pueden mejorar determinadas condiciones
edáficas, añadiendo nutrientes, agua, oxígeno y modificando el pH.
3 Planificación
Las técnicas de descontaminación son extraordinariamente caras, superando
ampliamente el valor del suelo en el mercado. Pero muchos países han
comprendido que el suelo es un bien inapreciable, con un valor incalculable, no
traducible a valor dinero, ya que como sabemos necesita de decenas a cientos de
miles de años para formarse y es por tanto un recurso no renovable, por tanto
irreparable, que se ha de conservar para las futuras generaciones, y su valor real
es independiente de su precio, el cual estará fijado por la ley de la oferta y la
demanda, que variara con las tendencias de la economía, mientras que el valor
del suelo en sí mismo es intemporal.
De la zona
Situación con respecto a los objetos amenazados. Las peculiaridades de
cada caso concreto pueden ser muy diferentes, por ejemplo: caso de núcleos
urbanos próximos, o el caso de la localidad holandesa de Lekkerkerk con casas
construidas sobre un vertedero de residuos químicos, o escapes de residuos de
una planta de tratamiento de petróleo que amenaza a una cuenca hidrográfica con
suministro para el consumo humano.
De la contaminación
Extensión de la contaminación. La magnitud del área afectada es uno de los
primeros factores a evaluar.
De los contaminantes
Naturaleza y concentración de los contaminantes. La clase de
contaminantes y su intensidad es otro parámetro imprescindible de considerar. En
las técnicas depuradoras va a influir decisivamente determinadas características
de los contaminantes, como son:
4 Casos prácticos
El desastre ecológico de Aznalcóllar
En el libro "In Situ Soil Remediation" de Otten et al, se describen cinco casos
concretos de descontaminación de suelos en Holanda. Se trata de unos informes
muy completos que abarcan contaminantes muy diversos en condiciones muy
diferentes. Por su indudable interés hemos seleccionado tres casos.
4 Casos prácticos
Practice case 5:
Flushing with acidified water Soestduinen
General
This is a practice case of the in-situ remediation of heavy metals. In spite of the
fact that this technique has not been widely followed in other remediation cases,
the applied techniques are interesting enough to be included in this overview.
Determination of the contamination situation
A soil investigation was required, as there was the risk of recreating humans
having direct contact with the contaminated top soil layer in the woody area.
Another risk was that the contaminants would spread via the groundwater
towards a drinking-water pumping station.
Figura 5.9. Cross section of the soil stratification and the contamination situation.
Weighing of the remediation alternatives
Feasibility investigation
The surface area to be remediated was 6,000 m2. For practical reasons, the
capacity of the water treatment installation was restricted to a maximum of 250
m3/hour. Based on the hydrological properties of the soil, the site was partitioned
into four compartments that were treated one after another.
A two-dimensional computer model was used to dimension the infiltration and
extraction system. In order to avoid part of the infiltrated water seeping to the
groundwater, a small volume of groundwater was extracted from the aquifer and
discharged into the sewage system after treatment, with a preferred discharge
flow rate of ca. 10% of the total extraction rate.
The acidified water was infiltrated via a pond. After percolation through the soil.
the flushing water was pumped up via a drainage system and recirculated after
treatment to the pond. The drains were installed using deep drainage. Figure 5.10
gives an overview of the remediated location.
Suitable water treatment options are: precipitation, biosorption and ion exchange.
As in this case the treated percolate water is recirculated and the flow rate was
rather high (250 m3/h), sorption on resins was the best of these options.
A resin with a high specific Cd-adsorption capacity was selected on the basis of
laboratory shaking tests. This resin also performed well in the presence of high
iron, aluminium and calcium concentrations, and at a pH of 3.5. The IMAC GT-
73 resin proved to be the most suited.
The extend to which the resin could be regenerated was investigated by means of
column tests. Practically complete regeneration proved to be possible with a 5%
solution of HCI.
Detailed design
Execution
Test compartment
the permeability of the soil was lower than initially measured (presence of a
thin soil layer with a high resistance)
According to these results, the sizes of the other compartments were adapted, and
extra infiltration drains were installed at 2.25 m-gl, with a view to the lower
permeability. The mutual distance between the extraction drains (at 5.5 m-gl)
was reduced from 4.5 m to 3 m.
Full-scale remediation
Completion
In autumn l988, the remediation objective of 2.5 mg/kg was widely achieved.
Most of the analyzed soil samples (90%) contained concentrations below l
mg/kg. Only in a small area in companment 4 were cadmium concentrations too
high, but this could be attributed to specific local conditions. This area was
therefore excavated (about l00 m3). All in all, about 440 kg cadmium was
removed from the location.
The province of Utrecht commissioned the project, and retained the contractor
Mourik Groot Ammers for the installation and maintenance of the system, and
the environmental consultancy Tauw Milieu bv for the preliminary
investigations, the design, and supervision of the remediation.
After completion
The concept of extractive in situ remediation described above has not until now
(l996) been widely followed up. In a way, the conditions of this project were
unique, with only one metal contaminant and a subsoil consisting of moderately
fine to moderately coarse sand.
this full-scale remediation has proved that the in situ remediation of soil
contaminated with heavy metals to an acceptable level of 1 mg/kg is achievable
4 Casos prácticos
Practice case 2:
Soil vapour extraction and lowering of
groundwater level, Denekamp
General
Laboratory tests or pilot plant investigations were not necessary for this project,
as the design was based on expert judgement and knowledge. A straightforward
in situ remediation approach was chosen.
This project demonstrates that not all remediation projects need to be preceded
by extensive studies and investigations. The need for them depends on the
contamination situation and the soil structure/stratification.
Contamination situation
The petrol station in Denekamp that caused the contamination had been situated
there for a long time. After the company ceased operations, a soil investigation
was carried out in order to find out whether the site was contaminated with
mineral oil.
The investigation proved that the soil at the former service station and beneath
the existing showroom was contaminated with mineral oil and aromatic
compounds in concentrations exceeding the Dutch Intervention Value. The
contamination extended to a depth of ca. 2.5 m -g1.
In this project the groundwater table was lowered to below the soil
contamination, in order to remove the entire contamination by soil vapour
extraction. This was done because in this project the desired lowering of the
groundwater table could be achieved by a low extraction rate (2 to 3 m3/h), and
because installing air injection filters beneath the showroom would have been
quite inconvenient for the owner.
Detailed design and installation
Given the extensive knowledge available on the biological degradation of
mineral oil and aromatic compounds, it was decided that additional investigations
were not necessary. Another reason for this was the availability of well-
documented practice cases where soil vapour extraction had been applied in
comparable types of soil.
Four horizontal drains were installed to extract the soil vapour. The calculated air
flow rate was ca. 50 m3/h at an underpressure of 50 mb. The initial total
hydrocarbon concentrations in the soil vapour were estimated at 2 to 4 gr/m3.
The remediation was expected to take two years.
Six horizontal drains were installed to extract groundwater for the in situ soil and
groundwater remediation. The extraction rate was 2 to 3 m3/h, and maximum
initial concentrations of mineral oil were 250 µg/l, and of aromatic compounds
3,000 µg/l.
Both groundwater and soil vapour were treated by means of a combined
biological treatment installation.
Execution
The excavation works and installation of the in situ system took place in March
and April 1994. In May 1994, a start was made with lowering the groundwater
table, and in June 1994 the soil vapour extraction began.
In August 1995 the target values for soil and groundwater were reached and the
system was stopped. The remediation took less time than the estimated two years.
Due to (among other things) the higher soil vapour extraction rate (100 m3/h
instead of 50 m3/h), the contaminants volatilized more quickly, which made the
in situ remediation proceed faster than predicted.
Soil vapour
Figure 5.5 shows the concentration the extracted soil vapour.
Figure 5.5 Contaminant levels in the soil vapour
The final total hydrocarbon concentration of the soil vapour was 20 mg/l
The initial concentration in the pumped-up water was 480 µg/l, which turned out
to be much lower than the 3,000 µg/l expected.
The end concentrations were below the detection limit of 0.1 µg/l, both in the
extracted water and in the observation wells.
Soil quality
During the in situ remediation, the contaminant concentrations of the soil
decreased from 2,300 mg/kg mineral oil to below the detection limit ( < 10
mg/kg), and from 480 mg/kg aromatics to below the detection limit ( < 0.1
mg/kg).
Concluding remarks
This project has demonstrated that - owing to the experiences gained with this
type of soil contamination and soil structure - the in situ soil remediation could
be dimensioned and performed without carrying out extensive soil investigations
in advance.
It also demonstrated that under certain circumstances the Dutch target values can
be attained by means of in situ remediation techniques.
This project was carried out by Middelbrink en van Breukelen B.V.; Tauw
Milieu was responsible for the project design and management.
4 Casos prácticos
Practice case 4:
In-situ biorestoration of a phthalates
contamination using only sparging
General
This practice case comprises the in situ cleanup of a site contaminated with
phthalates. The remediation is currently in its final stages. As phthalates are
nonvolatile contaminants, this is an example of in situ biorestoration during
which the contaminants are removed purely by biological degradation.
Furthermore, sparging is used without it being necessary to employ soil vapour
extraction to capture any stripped contaminants.
Contamination situation
During an exploratory investigation of the company site, the soil and
groundwater proved to be contaminated with phthalates. The contamination -
mostly consisting of di-isobutyl-phthalates (DIBF) - migrated with the
groundwater to beyond the site borders. The groundwater contamination
extended to a depth of ca. 5 m-gl, and had a surface area of ca. 600 m2.
Maximum concentrations in the soil were 10,000 mg/kg, and 7,300 µg/l in the
groundwater.
Almost half of the contamination was situated beneath a warehouse that is still in
use.
As phthalates are non -volatile and can not be stripped from ground water, in this
situation the addition of oxygen by means of sparging was chosen. There was no
need for soil vapour extraction, since the contaminants were non-volatile. During
the in situ remediation, groundwater was contained by a deepwell placed just
outside the contaminated area. The pumped-up water was only slightly
contaminated, and could therefore be discharged directly onto the sewage system.
Groundwater was extracted at a flow rate of 120 m3/d, and 60 m3 of warm water
per day was infiltrated. The groundwater could be discharged directly onto the
sewage system. In addition to the sparging wells, the water infiltration filters (7)
and the deepwell, six monitoring wells were installed to monitor the remediation
progress. Furthermore, several air monitoring filters were installed to monitor
whether there was uncontrolled spreading of the contamination via the soil
vapour.
Execution
During the remediation, samples were taken from the pumped-up groundwater,
the monitoring wells, and - periodically - of the soil vapour.
Pumped-up groundwater
Only during the first week were phthalates detected in the groundwater, albeit in
low concentrations. After that, the concentration dropped to below detection level
(2 µg/l).
Concentrations in groundwater
Before the remediation started, the monitoring wells were sampled in order to
determine the baseline situation. A maximum of 1,000 µg of phthalates per litre
was measured. After two months of remedial activities, no phthalates could be
detected in the groundwater of the monitoring well. Nor were they detected
during a re-sampling round. In order to ascertain whether subsequent supply
would occur, the in situ remediation was interrupted, and after 2 and then 3
months of stand-still the concentration levels were again determined. Again, no
phthalates were encountered. Remediation had been achieved well within the
estimated time.
Concentrations in soil
The soil was sampled before and after the remediation. After the groundwater
samples proved to be clean, the soil was resampled. The concentrations in the
soil and the vadose zone were now below detection limit, with a maximum
concentration in the saturated zone of 590 mg/kg.
Other parameters
The pH of the groundwater remained constant during the remediation. The
temperature was 14° C to begin with, then rose to 23° C.
After completion
The phthalates contamination of the groundwater had been removed. Phtalate
concentrations in the soil had decreased to below the intervention value. Test
proved that there were no risks of spreading, as the phthalates did not leach from
the soil into the groundwater.
The competent authorities have agreed that the aboveground installation can be
removed. After 1 year, groundwater will again be sampled, and if it is clean, the
remediation will be regarded as finished. If the water is not clean, however, it
will be assessed whether a short period of sparging is required to clean up the
remaining contamination.
The costs of the project were ca. USD 200,000. It was executed by Heymans
Milieutechniek B.V. The design, dimensioning and supervision were conducted
by Tauw Milieu B.V.
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