Sacrificial anode protection for electrodes in electrokinetic treatment of soils

Abstract

The electrokinetic (EK) treatment is proven to be an effective method in laboratory and field scale studies. The EK technique has lots of drawbacks such as electrode corrosion, cell setup, uncertain energy usage and cost, loss of energy with time, choice of materials, and no standard procedures. The metal electrodes corroded rapidly over a short period of time, cause voltage loss, reduce energy efficiency, and contaminate soil, thus, result in complexity and variability within the test system. Thus, EK method is seldom used as an alternative soil treatment with its enormous potentials. This paper discusses the challenges, potential remedies, and recommendations for EK technique, such as using a sacrificial anode to prevent, control or minimize the corrosion of the electrodes. The choice of electrodes is significant in improving the index and engineering properties of the soil and prevent the electrode corrosion or contamination of the soil, control variability and maintaining the electrical efficiency of the system. This implies that cheap and available metals can be used effectively in EK technique, both in the laboratory and in-situ bench-scale studies. © 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.