See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/340953628

Case Study Report on Soil Washing system at J. refinery stack located in

Janghang, South Chungcheng Province, Korea

Research · July 2019

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11055.07845

CITATIONS READS

0 32

1 author:

Tanmoy Sinha
Memorial University of Newfoundland
7 PUBLICATIONS   0 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Tanmoy Sinha on 27 April 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Case Study Report

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Noori Saady Tanmoy Sinha

Professor ID: 201894327
Memorial University

1
 Case study on Soil Washing system
J. refinery stack located in Janghang, South Chungcheng
Site location
Province, Korea
Contaminant Contaminated with heavy metals, mainly arsenic (As)
From surface to 1m below the surface vertically and
Contaminant distribution
1.5km radius from the refinery stack horizontally
Volume of contaminated soil Approximately 1,270,000 m3

Causes of contamination Dust scattering from the stack

Sandy soil with low proportion of fine particles and silty
Site soil classification
soil with high proportion of fine particles.

Based on the carried-out survey, the total volume of contaminated soil was approximately 1,270,000
m3 and the volume of contaminated soil was higher for depth between 0 to 0.3m from the surface
(approximately 6,18.300 m3). In sandy soils, the coarse soil particles like gravel and sand were the
dominant type (approximately 85%) but contaminant was concentrated in fine soil particles shown in
Fig.1. According to the survey data, the arsenic concentration of gravel and sand was 17.14 mg/kg
and 26.98 mg/kg respectively. The arsenic concentration of fine soils of 153.25 mg/kg exceeded the
legal standard of 25 mg/kg by Korean Soil Protection Act.
In contrast to sandy soils, fine soil particles were the dominant type (over 86%) but contaminant was
concentrated in coarse soil particles shown in Fig.2. For gravel and sand, arsenic concentration was
63.6 mg/kg and 53.9 mg/kg respectively which was above the legal standard of 25 mg/kg by Korean
Soil Protection Act, but for fine soil, arsenic concentration was only 15.1 mg/kg which met the soil
arsenic standard by Korean Soil Protection Act.

Sandy Soil Silty Soil

100 200 100 80
As. Conc.
Arsenic concentration (mg/kg)

Arsenic concentration (mg/kg)

(mg/kg)
Paticle size distribution (%)

Paticle size distribution (%)

Proportion (%)
80 Proportion (%)
As. Conc. 150 75 60
(mg/kg)
60
100 50 40
40

50 25 20
20

0 0 0 0
Gravel Sand Fine Soil Gravel Sand Fine Soil

Fig.1. Particle size and arsenic conc. for sandy soil Fig.2. Particle size and arsenic conc. for silty soil

The principles of soil washing are:

(i) Separation and removal of fine soils which have larger specific surface area. Contaminants are
absorbed on the surface of soil grains, therefore, fine soils are carrying more contaminants, such as
organic materials and heavy metals than coarse soils.
(ii) Pressurized waterjet removes the contaminants from the surfaces of soil grains.
A soil washing plant, capacity 3 tons/hour was installed consisting of five steps on the site to
remediate the arsenic contaminant soil.

1
 1. Crushing: Feed contaminated soils mixed with water are unaggregated by a log washer
2. Screening: Particle size over 0.075 mm are divided into sand and gravel and particle size
below 0.075 mm are as fine soils.
3. Precise separation: In series connected multi-microcyclones, fine soils are subclassified
according to cut-off particle size.
4. Clarification: Flocculating and settling down of highly contaminants-concentrated soil
particles.
5. Dewatering: Dewatering of highly contaminants-concentrated soil sediments by a horizontal
vacuum belt filter (HVBF) and cleaning up arsenic-contaminated wash-water by activated
carbon adsorption and then reused for zero-discharge of water.
In case of sandy soil, below 0.040 mm size particles were more contaminated with arsenic than
particle size between 0.040~0.075 mm shown in Fig.3. So, particle size below 0.040 mm required
additional treatment like waste treatment. Fine soils separated from the silty soils met the soil arsenic
standard of 25 mg/kg by Korean Soil Protection Act. Acid extraction test (0.4N phosphoric acid) was
conducted having efficiency 60% for gravel and sand. Treated coarse soils of 23.3 mg/kg also met
the legal standard shown in Fig.4.

Precise particle size separation of fine soil Acid extraction test for coarse soil particles
250 70
Before treatment
Arsenic concentration (mg/kg)

Arsenic concentration (mg/kg)

200 60
63.6
210.6 58.8
50 53.9
150 180.1
40
100 30 After treatment
50 20 24.2
22.3 23.3
45.3 10
0
75~40 40~20 <20 0
Gravel Sand Overall Gravel Sand Overall
Particle size (μm)
Fig.3. Separation of file soil by microcyclone Fig.4. Acid extraction for coarse soil (silty soil deposit)

Due to the difference result of soil washing for sandy and silty soils, the remediation process was
proposed as shown in Fig.5. For sandy soils, fine soil particles were separated by multi-microcyclones
and then taken out for waste treatment. As gravel and sand were below the legal arsenic limit, they
would be used as backfill soils. For silty soils, coarse soils were treated with acid extraction which
could meet the legal arsenic limit. For fine soils, as it was below the legal arsenic standard, so could
be used as backfill soils directly.

Fig.5. Remediation scenario proposed

2
 Reference:
1. Kim, K., Cheong, J. G., Kang, W. H., Chae, H., & Chang, C. H. (2012). Field study on
application of soil washing system to arsenic-contaminated site adjacent to J. refinery in
Korea. In International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology. IACSIT
Press, Singapore (pp. 1-5).

View publication stats