A laboratory-scale study with a sand column was designed to simulate trichloroethylene(TCE) pollution in the aquifer environment with three-section controlled-release potassium permanganate(CRP) barriers.The main objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of CRP barriers in remediation of TCE in aquifers in a long-term and controlled manner.CRP particles with a 1:3 molar ratio of KMnO 4 to stearic acid showed the best controlled-release properties in pure water,and the theoretical release time was 138.5 days.The results of TCE removal in the test column indicated that complete removal efficiency of TCE in a sand column by three-section CRP barriers could be reached within 15 days.The molar ratio of KMnO 4 to TCE in the three-section CRP barriers was 16:1,which was much lower than 82:1 as required when KMnO 4 solution is used directly to achieve complete destruction of TCE.This result revealed that the efficiency of CRP for remediation of TCE was highly improved after encapsulation.
