Petroleum contamination significantly degrades the physical, chemical, and geotechnical properties of soils in oil-producing regions. Electrokinetic remediation (EKR) has emerged as a promising technology for treating low-permeability soils, but its efficiency is strongly influenced by the nature of the electrode filter media. This study investigates the performance of coconut shell ash (CSA) as an enhanced filter medium in the EKR treatment of crude-oil-contaminated soil (COCS). Laboratory EKR cells were operated for a fixed duration using ethanol and acetone cosolvents to facilitate hydrocarbon mobility. Results show that CSA significantly improved contaminant migration toward the cathode and increased total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) removal efficiency. The EKR system with CSA achieved a maximum TPH removal of approximately 74.6%, outperforming acetone-assisted systems (≈67.8%). Post-treatment soils also exhibited improvements in geotechnical properties, including higher dry density and reduced plasticity index. These findings demonstrate that CSA is a low-cost, environmentally friendly additive that enhances the efficiency of EKR systems. The study provides insight into sustainable waste-to-resource applications for tropical engineering practice.
Sani et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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