The influence of defoamer on removal of PAHs in soil washing

The use of surfactants during soil washing process can create massive foam, which has a negative impact on the effective use of equipment. A series of tests was conducted to evaluate the defoaming performance of three defoamers and to investigate the influence on removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during enhanced soil washing by the addition of the defoamer. Results showed that polydimethylsiloxane oil, which is the most common biomaterial used in commercial antifoaming and defoaming agents, has the best defoaming performance. With the addition of 0.1% polydimethylsiloxane oil, the removal ratios of total 16 PAHs (sigma PAHs) increased up to 53.48% and 75.92% when washing time was 5 min and 30 min, respectively, compared with the removal ratios of 44.12% and 67.28% with Triton X-100 solution only. This indicated that the proper selection of defoamer not only solves massive foaming problem but also brings out a positive influence on PAH removal during the soil washing process. Implications: Three kinds of defoamers (kieselguhr, dodecanol, and polydimethylsiloxane oil) were collected to destroy the foam produced by Triton X-100. Among those defoamers, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) oil has the best defoaming performances. The surface tension of the Triton X-100 solution with the addition of PDMS was lower. The addition of PDMS could improve the removal ratio of sigma PAHs during soil washing. That may be attributed to the addition of the nonionic surfactant Tergitol NP-10 as the emulsifier in the defoamer. After all, the results do not provide any indication of the influence on the solubilization micelles. It is thus questionable whether other components of PDMS oil could improve the PAH solubilization.