The aim in this study was to remove Cl−, which can be problematic in the recycling of bottom ash, by identifying the optimum operating conditions for a soil electrolysis apparatus with spiral paddles and to use these as the base data in removing contaminants from various polluted soils using electrolysis. Unprocessed bottom ash collected from the openair storage yard at thermoelectric power plant H in Gyeong sang nam - do Province was used as the experimental material. The experimental methodology was to identify the optimum operating conditions to remove Cl− contained in the bottom ash using the following variables: use or not of spiral paddles, application or not of electrolysis, change of concentration of the electrolyte solution, electrolysis application time, and the voltage level during electrolysis. From the results, the highest removal efficiency of 91.4% was shown under the following conditions: use of the spiral paddles, use of 0.3% NaOH electrolyte solution, 20 min of electrolysis; and a voltage level of 5 V during electrolysis. It is evident that application of the soil electrolysis apparatus for removal of Cl− from bottom ash could be valuableas base data for purification of polluted soils in the future.

This study aimed to remove organic matter and heavy metals that could affect the recycling of soils contaminated by heavy metals, by means of electrolysis, carried out simultaneously with the leaching of the soil. To ensure better experimental equipment, a soil electrolysis apparatus, equipped with spiral paddles, was used to agitate the heavy-metal-contaminated soil effectively. The heavy-metal-contaminated soil was electrolyzed by varying the voltage to 5 V(Condition 1), 15 V(Condition 2), and 20 V(Condition 3), under the optimal operating conditions of the electrolysis apparatus, as determined through previous studies. The results showed that the pH of the electrolyte solution and the heavy-metal-contaminated soil, after electrolysis, tended to decrease with an increase in voltage. The highest removal efficiencies of TOC and CODCr were 18.8% and 29.1%, 38.8% and 4.2%, and 33.3% and 50.0%, under conditions 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Heavy metals such as Cd and As were not detected in this experiment. The removal efficiencies of Cu, Pb and Cr were 4.7%, 8.3% and 2.1%, respectively, under Condition 1, while they were 42.9%, 15.2% and 22.1%, respectively, under Condition 2, and 4.7%, 23.0%, and 24.9%, respectively, under Condition 3. These results suggest that varying the voltage with the soil electrolysis apparatus for removing contaminants for the recycling of heavy-metal-contaminated soil allows the selective removal of contaminants. Therefore, the results of this study can be valuable as basic data for future studies on soil remediation.