Course: Contaminated sites
Second semester, second year.
remediation
Duration: 10 weeks; 5 hours/week; 50 hours, 5 credits.
Professor: Prof. Ing. Aldo Muntoni
Goals and contents:
Study of the problematic relative to the characterization and remediation of contaminated sites, soils in
particular. Chemical-physical characteristics of porous media and organic and inorganic contaminants,
inter-actions between contaminants and soils, aspects relative to site modellization, definition of the
actions necessary for avoiding contaminant dispersion, the processes used for remediation of the site as
well as the legislative aspects are discussed.
Pre-requirements: Bachelor degree. Good knowledge concerning the contents of the undergraduate
courses: Sanitary-Environmental Engineering, Principles of Environmental Chemical Engineering,
Geotechnics and Hydraulics.
Acquirable knowledge:
Solution of simple problems relative to the characterization and remediation of a contaminated site.
Identification of the most appropriate remediation process with reference to the characteristics of the site
and of the contaminants.
Course description
Part 1: Definition of the concept of contaminated site. Legislative aspects. Chemical-physical
characterization of porous media: particle size, surface properties, porosity, field capacity, permeability,
general aspects on mechanical properties, buffer capacity, cation exchange capacity, direct and indirect
investigations, general aspects on sampling methods.
Contaminant characteristics and inter-actions between contaminants and porous media. Solubility and
volatility of contaminants. Adsorption, precipitation, complexation. Solid-liquid, solid-gas, liquid-gas
interface properties.
Part 2: Classification of remediation processes: in situ, on site, off site, biological and chemical-physical
Extraction processes: extraction reagents and contaminant mobilization options. Washing: sieving,
attrition, gravimetric separation, flotation, concentrate treatment. Flushing: preliminary investigations,
delivery of extraction agents, on-off site treatment of concentrate or in situ by means of permeable
reactive barriers. Electrokinetics. Soil vapour extraction. Enhanced Soil vapour extraction.
Part 3: Immobilization treatments. Thermal treatments. Biological treatments. Phyto-remediation.
Part 4: Safety measures. General aspects on risk analysis. Case studies.
Class material: handouts on file, copy of the slides used during the lectures, copy of scientific papers.
Examination: oral test.