Effects of Mixed Surfactant on Enhancing High Concentration Anthracene and Pyrene Removal from Contaminated Soil

Surfactants are considered promising and practical substances for enhancing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) removal from contaminated soil. In order to explore the effects of single and mixed surfactants on the removal of high-concentration PAHs from soil, a series of experiments have been conducted. In this study, Tween80-saponin (a mixed surfactant), Tween80 (a nonionic surfactant), and saponin (a biosurfactant) were used to remove two typical and high concentration PAHs (anthracene and pyrene) from contaminated soil. Results showed that the mixed surfactant had better performance on the solubilization of anthracene and pyrene than Tween80, but its performance was worse than saponin. When the proportion and concentration of the mixed surfactant were 1:9 and 800 mg L −1 respectively, the elution rate of anthracene could reach 97.67%, it was better than that by Tween80 and saponin. In addition, the Tween80-saponin mixed surfactant had good performance on actual PAHs contaminated soil remediation. When the proportion and concentration of Tween80-saponin were 1:9 and 800 mg L −1 respectively, the PAHs elution rate of actual contaminated soil could reach 81.31%.