A Preliminary Study for Microwave Application to Energy Efficient Contaminated Soil Cleanup

A preliminary study for energy efficient soil heating and contaminant removal using microwave was conducted. Soils sampled from floodplain were heated with microwave oven, and soil heating property and energy efficiency were compared to those heated with electrical furnace. In addition the effects of water, soil organic matter, and contaminated diesel on soil heating with microwave were investigated. Even though the electrical power consumption of electrical furnace and microwave oven were similar, temperature of soil heated with microwave oven was significantly higher than that of soil heated with electrical furnace. The increase of soil moisture content delays the raise of soil temperature during heating it with microwave oven. However, the effects of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) (<10%) in contaminated soil matrix and small amount of soil organic matter (<5%) on the increase of soil temperature by microwave were not significant. Further studies for contaminated soils with different texture using pilot scale microwave reactor are required for application of this technique in the field.