Pulse-enhanced electrokinetic restoration of sulfate-containing saline greenhouse soil

In South Korea, the agricultural use of greenhouses has increased gradually. Salt accumulation in greenhouses is an important issue because of their unique characteristics, including high temperatures and interception of rainfall. Even though an electrokinetic process could remove salts from the soil, energy consumption is a major barrier to widespread application of these systems. In this study, the effectiveness of a pulsed electrokinetic process in reducing the electrical energy consumption during the restoration of saline soil was investigated. The pulsed electrokinetic process lowered the electrical energy consumption to 42% of that of the conventional process, while producing a similar decrease in salinity. The frequency of on/off switching did not influence the total reduction in salinity, but the amounts of sulfate and Ca removed were correlated with the on/off frequency positively and negatively, respectively. From these results, it was concluded that a pulsed electrokinetic process is an effective technique for reducing energy consumption in the electrokinetic restoration of saline soil. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.