Decontamination of Heavy Metals From Municipal Sewage Sludge (MSS) by Electrokinetic Remediation

A large quantity of sludges resulting from the treatment of MWWTP (Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant) effluent is generated annually following the increase of population density and acceleration of urbanization. Sludge production in Europe has been predicted by around 12 million tons in 2020. As a solid waste, appropriate disposal of Municipal Sewage Sludge (MSS) has been taken seriously due to its larger volume and toxic substances such as heavy metals. Electrokinetic remediation has more advantages in heavy metals uptake compared to other technologies, due to the ability to treat soils in-situ and to remove heavy metals from soils. In this work, it was studied the remediation of MSS by the electrokinetic remediation coupled with activated carbon (AC) as a permeable reactive barrier (PRB). It was applied an electric current of 3 V cm−1 and it was used an AC/sludge ratio of 30 g kg−1 of contaminated sludge for the preparation of the PRB. In each trial, the evolution of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) removal from the sludge were evaluated. Results proved that this process is perfectly suited for the removal of chromium, nickel and zinc metals from the sludge. At the end of the operation time, it was achieved a maximum removal rate of 56% for chromium, 73% for nickel and 99% for zinc, with initial concentrations of 2790 mg kg−1, 2840 mg kg−1, and 94200 mg kg−1, respectively. Based on these results, it was proved the technical viability of the proposed technology (electrokinetic with AC as a permeable reactive barrier) to treat municipal sewage sludges.