Abstract
In this work an electrodialytic remediation cell for copper mine tailings using sinusoidal electric field was analyzed, in order to increase the removal efficiency. The sinusoidal electric field was obtained by applying simultaneously continuous-alternating voltages; in this work an alternating voltage of low frequency was applied. The system was tested considering the effect of: (1) the effective voltage applied to the cell, (2) the period for the alternating voltage, (3) remediation time, and (4) copper complexing capacity of citric acid. According to the conditions studied in this investigation, the laboratory results showed that decreasing the effective voltage improves the remediation action, due to polarity reversal of the system, which reduces polarization during the process, but in terms of the period for the alternating voltage there is no effect. As expected the remediation time and copper complexing capacity of citric acid improves the amount of remediated material and the remediation action in general.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chilean Copper Commission (COCHILCO) (2008) Yearbook: copper and other mineral statistics 1988–2007
Lageman R (1993) Electroreclamation. Environ Sci Technol 27:2648–2650
Acar YB, Alshawabkeh AN (1993) Principles of electrokinetic remediation. Environ Sci Technol 27:2638–2647
Probstein RF, Hicks RE (1993) Removal of contaminants from soil by electric fields. Science 260:498–503
Hansen HK, Ottosen LM, Hansen L, Kliem BK, Villumsen A (1997) Electrodialytic soil remediation—a derivative from electrokinetic soil remediation. In: Proceeding of the workshop on electromigration applied to soils remediation, Albia, France, 15–16 May 1997
Ottosen LM, Hansen HK, Laursen S, Villumsen A (1997) Electrodialytic remediation of soil polluted with copper from wood preservation industry. Environ Sci Technol 31:1711–1715
Lageman R, Clarke RL, Pool W (2005) Electroreclamation, a versatile soil remediation solution. Eng Geol 77:191–201
Hansen HK, Rojo A (2007) Testing pulsed electric field in electroremediation of copper mine tailings. Electrochim Acta 52:3399–3405
Rojo A, Hansen HK (2005) Electrodialytic remediation of copper mine tailings: sulphuric and citric acid addition. Sep Sci Technol 40(9):1947–1956
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the FONDECYT Project 1085118 and UTFSM Project 27.09.32.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rojo, A., Hansen, H.K. & del Campo, J. Electrodialytic remediation of copper mine tailings with sinusoidal electric field. J Appl Electrochem 40, 1095–1100 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-010-0074-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-010-0074-1