Electrokinetic remediation of dredged sediments from Le Havre Harbour

Dredging is necessary for the development of the harbours and the maintenance of their activities. Dredging sediments, when polluted, present an effective and durable contamination risk of the ecosystems. The electromigration process is a promising decontamination technique for removal of ionised or ionisable substances contained in the sediment. An experimental study which aimed at investigating the efficiency of this technique is performed for three samples of sediments dredged in three basins in the port of Le Havre (France). The results show a decrease of the electric current in the sample during the process, highlighting the saturation of the electromigration potential. The extracted solution volume increases with electric power and the electrodes material is also the parameter controlling the electrokinetic process.