Ricerc@Sapienza

Delineation and understanding the geology and the hydrogeology of a contaminated site, considering its chemical and its biological aspects, are fundamental requirements for successful environmental remediation. The aim of this research is to provide some evidence about the effectiveness of a hydrogeochemical geodatabase to facilitate the integrated management, representation and analysis of heterogeneous data, enabling the appropriate selection, design and

Soil contamination by mixture of compounds represents a challenging environmental problem to face,
especially for the risk connected to the human health, due to the possible diffusion of the pollution in
the groundwater. One of the most used remediation technology is adsorbtion on carbonaceus material
and Activated Carbon (AC) is the most used one, even if it is usually connected to high costs. Biochar (BC)
is proposed as an alternative low-cost material for the removal of wide range of contaminants in the

Pollution of soil and water environments is mainly due to different anthropogenic factors, and the presence of organic contaminants, in particular persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic ones, arouses concern for their possible effects on environment and human health. One nature-based technology that can be used in biodegradation of contaminated soil and water is microbial fuel cells (MFCs). They are also capable of producing energy and of being used as environmental sensors.

BIOTON® biochar, produced by a wood biomass pyrolysis process, which is usually applied as soil amendment, was investigated for a novel application, i.e., the adsorption of lead from contaminated solutions. The experimental activity included physical and chemical characterization of BIOTON®; and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images to highlight its internal structure. The adsorption process was investigated through batch and column experiments.

Charcoal from vegetable wastes showed good adsorbent properties for lead-contaminated water. Adsorption capacity at equilibrium was about 10 and 20 mg/g at 50 and 100 mg/L Pb, respectively. Breakthrough curves highlighted longer operation times of column plant filled with charcoal mixed sand than with sand only.

In this paper, RE-CHAR® biochar, produced by a wood biomass pyrolysis process, which is usually applied as a soil fertilizer, was investigated for a novel use, that was as adsorbent for remediating a lead-contaminated solution. Firstly, a deep physical and chemical characterization of RE-CHAR® biochar was carried out. Then, the adsorption capacity of lead from 50 to 100 mg/L solutions was determined under batch and continuous flow conditions.

Hydrogeological uniqueness and chemical-physical peculiarities guide the contamination dynamics and decontamination mechanisms in the environmental arena. A single composite geodatabase, which integrates geological/hydrological, geophysical, and chemical data, acts as a “cockpit” in the definition of a conceptual model, design of a remediation strategy, implementation, near-real-time monitoring, and validation/revision of a pilot test, and monitoring full-scale interventions.