Characterization of Heavy Metals in Soil by High Gradient Magnetic Separation

In recent years forecasting soil cleaning efficiencies of polluted soil, especially those contaminated with heavy metals, has become an important issue. Failure of the methods to predict the right efficiency has resulted in financial losses and penalties. This article describes an addition to the traditional characterization methods for soils contaminated by heavy metals, improving the quality of the basic decisions to be made. The method is based on magnetic separation using a Frantz Isodynamic Separator (FIS) for this study. The FIS isolates soil particles containing heavy metals so that these particles, which are relevant for soil cleaning, can be studied in more detail. Four contaminated soils were tested, for example, soils that were a problem for the soil-cleaning industry. The experiments indicate that each soil has its own magnetic properties that should be regarded as a fingerprint. Density measurements of two soils show that densities approach the quartz density separated at moderate and high magnetic fields suggesting that some of the heavy metals cannot be removed by density separation techniques. A pilot plant scale test supports this conclusion. It also shows that a part of the heavy metals are found in particles lighter than quartz. Based on the results, a qualitative model is proposed to account for the presence of the heavy metals in soil.