Effects of surfactants on extraction of phenanthrene in spiked sand

Problems associated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminated site in environmental media have received increasing attention. To resolve such problems, innovative in situ methods are urgently required. This work investigated the feasibility of using surfactants to extract phenanthrene on spiked sand in a batch system. Phenanthrene was spiked into Ottawa sand to simulate contaminated soil. Six surfactants, Brij 30 (BR), Triton X-100 (TR), Tergitol NP-10 (TE), Igepal CA-720 (IG), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB) were used. Adjusting the extraction time, mixing speed and surfactant concentration yielded the optimum extracting conditions. The concentration of phenanthrene was identified with HPLC. Under the experimental conditions, results indicated that those surfactants were highly promising on site remediation since the residual phenanthrene concentration was effectively reduced. The optimum operating conditions were obtained at 30 min, 125 rpm and surfactant concentrations in 4%.