A dynamic model for the electrokinetic removal of copper from a polluted soil

The electrokinetic process is a promising decontamination technique for removal of heavy metals from polluted sites. The authors have studied the removal of copper (Cu) from an industrially heavy-metal-contaminated soil, using the application of electric current. A sequential extraction procedure was used to monitor changes in the chemical associations of Cu during the electrokinetic treatment of the soil. A dynamic model is presented for the removal of Cu by electrokinetic decontamination. This model, based on a biregressional design, enables a joint analysis of the experiments which were carried out in a laboratory cell. The removal of Cu was found to be a local phenomenon, dependent on the release of metal by different soil fractions, cumulative and controlled by time as well as pH.