Cement-based solidification/stabilization of contaminated soils by nitrobenzene

The cement-based solidification/stabilization (S/S) of nitrobenzene (NB) contaminated soils, with cement and lime as binders, sodium silicate solution and powder activated carbon (PAC) as additives, was optimized through an orthogonal experiment, and S/S efficiency was estimated by both leaching test and volatilization measurement. The leaching test results showed that the factors affecting S/S efficiency were NB concentration, cement-to-lime ratio and binder-to-soils ratio, in sequence. With increasing curing time, the leaching concentration of NB between different levels of the same factor in the orthogonal experiment decreased, and less than 9% NB leached out from the 28 d cured samples. The volatilization measurement results indicated that 0.5 parts per thousand of NB was volatilized during the mixing and curing processes for the samples without PAC in the 28 d cycle, whereas adding 2 wt% and 5 wt% PAC, with respect to the weight of contaminated soils, could reduce NB volatilization to half of its original values either during the mixing or curing process. The optimizing formula, that is, contaminated soils (dry weight): cement: lime = 100: 25: 25, with 5 wt% additional sodium silicate and 2 wt% additional PAC, was applied to the engineering application of NB contaminated soils. Both the leaching test results of the product and the ambient air quality monitoring results met related regulations during the treating process.