Surfactant soil remediation

摘要

Soil contaminated with contaminants such as a heavy hydrocarbon or a chlorinated hydrocarbon is cleaned, preferably on-site, by contacting the contaminated soil with a supersurfactant such as the micellar surfactant formed by sonicating polar substituted heavy hydrocarbon in the presence of an alkali metal salt such as sodium silicate and a free radical generating agent such as hydrogen peroxide and sonicating the suspension. At least 85% of the contaminant is flushed or washed from the soil including fine particles having a particle size below about 70 microns.