Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile Edile e Ambientale

European ports host business related to transports, manufacturing, chemical industries and oil refineries, storage areas for chemicals, solvents, mineral oils, paper, food, etc. Moreover, within specific areas toxic waste and non ferrous material are dealt with. Due to this massive presence of invasive human activities, harbours and coastal areas all over Europe have sediments that are contaminated with heavy metals and organic substances such as hydrocarbons and polyaromatic hydrocarbons The aim of this Life+ project is to demonstrate, through several dedicated actions, that sediment dredged from port waters, characterized by heavy metal and hydrocarbon concentrations over acceptable standards, can be treated in a specifically equipped Confined Disposal Facility by means of electrokinetic remediation (EKR) in order to reach the compliance with such standards. The environmental and economic benefits of this solution in comparison to mere landfill disposal will be demonstrated as well. The main action will be the demonstration of the EKR technology by way of a demonstrative plant to be built in a dedicated area of the Port of Livorno to treat an approximate amount of 150 m3 of purposely dredged sediment. The plant will be made up of a basin (effective volume 150 m3; depth 1.5 m) contained within prefab reinforced concrete walls and sealed by a waterproof liner. Following the Lageman-Pool-Seffinga patent, the facility will be equipped with interconnected grids of wells and pipes made of a semi-permeable material. The grid will include the metallic electrodes which will be connected to the power generator. The anolyte and catholyte will be continuously circulated within the anodic and cathodic pipe grids. The two circuits will include an external water treatment facility aimed at removing the dissolved metals by chemico physical treatment (to be chosen among sulphidation, carbonation or brown mud adsorption, possibly combined with hydrothermal treatment)