Cement/Activated-Carbon Solidification/Stabilization Treatment of Phenol-Containing Soil

In this research, the cement/activated-carbon solidification/stabilization (S/S) technology was used to treat contaminated soil with 500 ppm phenol, choosing ordinary Portland cement (30% or 50% w/w of contaminated soil) and activated carbon (0%-10% w/w of contaminated soil) as binder and additive respectively. The leaching test, long-term leaching test, and pore size distribution analysis of the solidified/stabilized samples were carried out to investigate the S/S effect. The results showed that under the natural curing conditions, the phenol- contaminated soil could be effectively treated by the cement/activated-carbon S/S technology; very low amounts of activated carbon (less than 3% w/w of contaminated soil) could significantly improve the fixation ratios of phenol; the cumulative leaching ratio of 28 days cured samples were much lower than that of 7 days cured samples in the long-term leaching test; the adding of activated carbon had a strong effect on the porosity of the solidified/stabilized samples, increasing the total porosity, which might lead to easily leaching out of phenol; and careful balancing between the adding amount of activated carbon and cement was necessary to obtain the minimum phenol release and better economic feasibility.