Effect of Ultrasound on Surfactant-Aided Soil Washing

The use of ultrasound as an enhancement mechanism in the surfactant-aided soil-washing process was examined by conducting desoption tests of soils contaminated with naphthalene or diesel-oil. The experiments were conducted to elucidate the effect of ultrasound on the mass transfer from soil to the aqueous phase using naphthalene-contaminated soil. In addition, the use of ultrasound for the diesel-oil-contaminated soil was investigated under a range of conditions of surfactant concentration, sonication power, duration, soil/liquid ratio, particle size and initial diesel-oil concentration. The ultrasound used in the soil-washing process significantly enhanced the mass transfer rate from the solid phase to the aqueous phase. The removal efficiency of diesel-oil from the soil phase generally increased with longer sonication time, higher power intensity, and large particle size.