RECOVERY OF MERCURY CONTAMINATED SOIL USING 2- DIMENSIONAL ELECTROKINETIC REMEDIATION TECHNIQUES

• Main Author: Azaria Zahra, Elfrieda
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Teknik saniter dan perkotaan; teknik perlindungan lingkungan
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/77711
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Heavy metal contamination such as mercury in soil has become an environmental issue recently. Groundwater flow will transport mercury that enters the soil to lower areas for a long time. As a result, mercury is increasingly distributed over a wider area so that efforts to restore contaminated land will be needed. One technology that can be used is the electrokinetic remediation (EKR) technique with a 2-dimensional configuration. Soil samples were taken from gold mining activities in Lebaksitu Village, Lebak Gedong District, Banten. 2-dimensional EKR was carried out using a 20cm x 20cm x 10cm reactor and carbon electrodes. EKR is performed with three variations of electrode configuration. The EKR process for each configuration variation was carried out for 48 hours with a power supply of 20 V. The parameters measured were temperature, pH, electric current, and mercury concentration at the cathode, at the anode, and at the point between the anode and cathode. Mercury concentrations were tested with AAS where soil samples were first digested using EPA 7471B procedures. It was concluded that the soil characteristics used in the study were suitable for electrokinetic remediation. During the electrokinetic remediation process, temperature parameters increase and decrease, pH parameters increase, and electric current parameters decrease. By varying the electrode configuration, different percentages of contaminant removal are obtained. It was found that the reduction in mercury concentration at the anode point from configuration 1, configuration 2, and configuration 3 was 25.78%, 2.52%, and 47.72% respectively.