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Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 18839

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Hydro-Science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: soil/groundwater remediation; solid waste management; geoenvironmental engineering; sustainability

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Co-Guest Editor
Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Interests: soil remediation; containment barriers; sustainable geomechanical and geoenvironmental engineering materials

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Assistant Guest Editor
School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: soil–groundwater pollution and remediation; water resource planning and management; protection of water resources in mining areas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Contamination of soils and groundwater at industrial sites is an issue of global concern and is increasing rapidly in developing countries. On the other hand, developing sustainable remediation technologies remains a huge challenge in developed nations. Extensive research has been done to explore mechanisms of soil and groundwater contamination and develop strategies and technologies for site remediation. There is a growing realization that in situ remediation has merits of lower impact and improved sustainability. The application of in situ remediation in practice has increased significantly in recent years. This Special Issue is focused on pollution and in situ remediation of soil and groundwater at industrial sites. We welcome papers addressing topics such as contaminated site characterization, engineering control technologies, mechanisms of remediation, innovative remediation technologies, and integrated remediation approaches. Papers presenting critical discussions of complex case studies of site remediation are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Liming Hu
Prof. Dr. Yan-Jun Du
Dr. Xueqiang Zhu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • brownfield
  • industrial site
  • soil contamination
  • groundwater contamination
  • emerging contaminants
  • exposure assessment
  • risk assessment
  • engineering control
  • site remediation
  • cover system
  • vertical barrier
  • permeable reactive barrier
  • in situ remediation technology
  • solid waste
  • sediments remediation
  • dredged sludge treatment

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3150 KiB  
Article
Degradation Characteristics of Carbon Tetrachloride by Granular Sponge Zero Valent Iron
by Xueqiang Zhu, Yuncong Li, Baoping Han, Qiyan Feng and Lai Zhou
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(23), 12578; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312578 - 29 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1572
Abstract
Granular sponge zero valent iron (ZVI) was employed to degrade carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The effects of acidic washing, initial solution pH, and ZVI dosage on CCl4 degradation were investigated. Results showed that CCl4 was effectively removed by ZVI and [...] Read more.
Granular sponge zero valent iron (ZVI) was employed to degrade carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The effects of acidic washing, initial solution pH, and ZVI dosage on CCl4 degradation were investigated. Results showed that CCl4 was effectively removed by ZVI and approximately 75% of CCl4 was transformed into chloroform through hydrogenolysis. The rate of chloroform transformation was slower compared to that of CCl4, resulting in chloroform accumulation. CCl4 degradation was a pseudo first-order process. The observed pseudo first-order reaction rate constant (kobs) for CCl4 and chloroform were 0.1139 and 0.0109 h−1, respectively, with a ZVI dosage of 20 g/L and an initial CCl4 concentration of 20 mg/L. Surface acidic washing had a negligible effect on CCl4 degradation with ZVI. The kobs for CCl4 degradation increased linearly with increasing ZVI dosage and the optimal dosage of ZVI was 20 g/L based on the surface area-normalized rate constants. The negative relationship between kobs and the solution pH indicated that the degradation of CCl4 by ZVI performed better under weakly acidic conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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14 pages, 4525 KiB  
Article
Changes in the Structures and Directions of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Soil Remediation Research from 1999 to 2020: A Bibliometric & Scientometric Study
by Dongping Shi, Chengyu Xie, Jinmiao Wang and Lichun Xiong
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7358; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147358 - 9 Jul 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4076
Abstract
The pollution of heavy metals in soil is a problem of great concern to international scholars today. This research investigates the current research activities in the field of soil heavy metal pollution remediation and discusses the current areas of research focus and development [...] Read more.
The pollution of heavy metals in soil is a problem of great concern to international scholars today. This research investigates the current research activities in the field of soil heavy metal pollution remediation and discusses the current areas of research focus and development trends. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of the literature on soil heavy metal pollution remediation from 1999 to 2020. CiteSpace and Vosviewer were used to conduct document co-citation and cluster analyses on the collected data. The research was mainly carried out based on the following factors: chronological distribution, country and institution distribution, source journal analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and reference co-citation analysis. China (2173, 28.64%) and the United States (946, 12.47%) are the top two countries in terms of the number of articles published, and Environmental Science and Pollution Research (384, 5.06%) and Science of the Total Environment (345, 4.55%) published the most articles. The Chinese Academy of Science (485) is the organization that has contributed the most to the total number of publications. Furthermore, based on a keyword co-word analysis with Vosviewer and CitesSpace, it was concluded that the applications of phytoremediation and biochar in the remediation of heavy metals in soil are current research hotspots. Additionally, future research should focus on repair mechanisms, the development of new repair technology and joint repair systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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14 pages, 2533 KiB  
Article
Feasibility Study on the Application of Microbial Agent Modified Water-Jet Loom Sludge for the Restoration of Degraded Soil in Mining Areas
by Chuning Ji, Jiu Huang, Yu Tian, Ying Liu, Joshua Bosco Barvor, Xintong Shao and Zi’ao Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(13), 6797; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18136797 - 24 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2170
Abstract
Open-pit mining causes soil damage and affects the health of the ecosystem. In the arid grassland mining areas, the soil is severely sanded, water-starved, and saline, thus making it difficult for plants and microorganisms to survive. Water-jet loom sludge can be used to [...] Read more.
Open-pit mining causes soil damage and affects the health of the ecosystem. In the arid grassland mining areas, the soil is severely sanded, water-starved, and saline, thus making it difficult for plants and microorganisms to survive. Water-jet loom sludge can be used to improve the quality as it contains a lot of clay and is rich in organic matter, which provides a material basis for microorganism activity. To explore the effects of microbial agent-modified water-jet loom sludge on the restoration of degraded soil in grassland mining areas, four pot trials were set up, i.e., for untreated soil, the application of a microbial agent alone, the application of water-jet loom sludge alone, and the combined application of water-jet loom sludge and the microbial agent. The results show that (1) microbial agent-modified sludge can improve soil water-holding capacity and aggregate stability; (2) the nutrient content of the restored soil fraction increased significantly, and the pH of the original saline soil decreased from 9.06 to 7.84; (3) this method significantly increased plant biomass and microbial biomass carbon and enhanced the abundance and diversity of fungi and bacteria. The three treatments had different results in different soil properties, and the effect of the combined water-jet loom sludge and microbial agent treatment on soil remediation was significantly better than the individual application of either. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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18 pages, 6615 KiB  
Article
Effects of Long-Term Freeze–Thaw Cycles on the Properties of Stabilized/Solidified Lead-Zinc-Cadmium Composite-Contaminated Soil
by Zhongping Yang, Jiazhuo Chang, Yao Wang, Xuyong Li and Shu Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(11), 6114; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18116114 - 6 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2623
Abstract
Lead, zinc, and cadmium were used to prepare a composite-contaminated soil to replicate common situations, in which soil is usually simultaneously contaminated by multiple metals. To examine the long-term durability of stabilized/solidified (S/S) contaminated soil, specimens were subjected to a series of freeze–thaw [...] Read more.
Lead, zinc, and cadmium were used to prepare a composite-contaminated soil to replicate common situations, in which soil is usually simultaneously contaminated by multiple metals. To examine the long-term durability of stabilized/solidified (S/S) contaminated soil, specimens were subjected to a series of freeze–thaw (F-T) cycles, up to ninety times (one day per cycle), prior to testing. Triaxial compression tests, soil column leaching tests, and X-ray diffraction analysis were then employed to study the mechanical properties, environmental influences, and micro-mechanisms of the S/S lead-zinc-cadmium composite-contaminated soils after long-term F-T. The results showed that triaxial compressive strength increases within three F-T cycles, then decreases before slightly increasing or stabilizing after thirty F-T cycles. The stage of decreased cohesion thus occurs between three and fourteen F-T cycles, with variation in other factors similar to that of the triaxial compressive strength. The cohesion mainly increases between three and seven cycles. The soil column leaching test showed that the permeability of soil is more than four times higher than that of soil not subject to freeze–thaw cycles after ninety F-T cycles. XRD tests further revealed that the chemical composition of S/S contaminated soil and the occurrence of each heavy metal (HM) remained unchanged under F-T treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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14 pages, 4411 KiB  
Article
Box Experiment Study of Thermally Enhanced SVE for Benzene
by Qixiang Zhang, Qiyan Feng, Xueqiang Zhu, Mei Zhang, Yanjun Wang and Liu Yang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4062; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084062 - 12 Apr 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1943
Abstract
In order to describe the changes of soil temperature field, air flow field and remediation situation with time during the process of thermally enhanced SVE (soil vapor extraction), a remediation experiment of benzene contaminated soil with single extraction pipe was carried out in [...] Read more.
In order to describe the changes of soil temperature field, air flow field and remediation situation with time during the process of thermally enhanced SVE (soil vapor extraction), a remediation experiment of benzene contaminated soil with single extraction pipe was carried out in a box device. The results showed that the whole temperature of the system was raised to 80 °C in 4 h. 43% of benzene were removed in the first 2% of the extraction time. After 24 h, the repair efficiency was close to 100%. The device can efficiently remove benzene from soil. By continuously monitoring the parameters in the operation process of the system, the spatial distribution of temperature and soil gas pollutant concentration with time was plotted. It showed the benzene concentration distribution in the soil gas was more consistent with the temperature distribution before the start of ventilation, and the concentration of benzene in the soil gas dropped rapidly after ventilation, while the temperature distribution was almost unaffected. In the treatment of soil with a benzene content of 17.8 mg∙kg−1, when the soil gas benzene concentration is the highest at 180 min, the peak value is 11,200 mg∙m−3, and the average concentration is 7629.4 mg∙m−3. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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15 pages, 3192 KiB  
Article
Rapid Degradation of Carbon Tetrachloride by Microscale Ag/Fe Bimetallic Particles
by Xueqiang Zhu, Lai Zhou, Yuncong Li, Baoping Han and Qiyan Feng
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 2124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042124 - 22 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2051
Abstract
Cost-effective zero valent iron (ZVI)-based bimetallic particles are a novel and promising technology for contaminant removal. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CCl4 removal from aqueous solution using microscale Ag/Fe bimetallic particles which were prepared by depositing [...] Read more.
Cost-effective zero valent iron (ZVI)-based bimetallic particles are a novel and promising technology for contaminant removal. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CCl4 removal from aqueous solution using microscale Ag/Fe bimetallic particles which were prepared by depositing Ag on millimeter-scale sponge ZVI particles. Kinetics of CCl4 degradation, the effect of Ag loading, the Ag/Fe dosage, initial solution pH, and humic acid on degradation efficiency were investigated. Ag deposited on ZVI promoted the CCl4 degradation efficiency and rate. The CCl4 degradation resulted from the indirect catalytic reduction of absorbed atomic hydrogen and the direct reduction on the ZVI surface. The CCl4 degradation by Ag/Fe particles was divided into slow reaction stage and accelerated reaction stage, and both stages were in accordance with the pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics. The degradation rate of CCl4 in the accelerated reaction stage was 2.29–5.57-fold faster than that in the slow reaction stage. The maximum degradation efficiency was obtained for 0.2 wt.% Ag loading. The degradation efficiency increased with increasing Ag/Fe dosage. The optimal pH for CCl4 degradation by Ag/Fe was about 6. The presence of humic acid had an adverse effect on CCl4 removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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Review

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18 pages, 1121 KiB  
Review
Vertical Barriers for Land Contamination Containment: A Review
by Benyi Cao, Jian Xu, Fei Wang, Yunhui Zhang and David O’Connor
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(23), 12643; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312643 - 30 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3401
Abstract
Soil pollution is one of the major threats to the environment and jeopardizes the provision of key soil ecosystem services. Vertical barriers, including slurry trench walls and walls constructed with soil mix technology, have been employed for decades to control groundwater flow and [...] Read more.
Soil pollution is one of the major threats to the environment and jeopardizes the provision of key soil ecosystem services. Vertical barriers, including slurry trench walls and walls constructed with soil mix technology, have been employed for decades to control groundwater flow and subsurface contaminant transport. This paper comprehensively reviewed and assessed the typical materials and mechanical and permeability properties of soil–bentonite, cement–bentonite and soil mix barriers, with the values of mix design and engineering properties summarized and compared. In addition, the damage and durability of barrier materials under mechanical, chemical, and environmental stresses were discussed. A number of landmark remediation projects were documented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of barrier systems. Recent research about crack-resistant and self-healing barrier materials incorporating polymers and minerals at Cambridge University and performance monitoring techniques were analyzed. Future work should focus on two main areas: the use of geophysical methods for non-destructive monitoring and the optimization of resilient barrier materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil and Groundwater: Pollution and In-situ Remediation)
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