Behind the scenes of our largest PFAS washing plant
The go-to technique perfected
Soil washing is already being used for quite some time to remediate contaminated soil. In short, in this process the soil is subjected to an extensive series of washing and separation processes. Using special additives that separate the PFAS from the soil and a state-of-the-art water treatment process, we have perfected the technique and are now able to convert 80% of the contaminated soil into sand and other organic substances free of PFAS. In Ghent, we are putting that theory into practice with our latest PFAS scrubber.
- Contaminated soil arrives at our site by truck or ship. To reduce our ecological footprint, we opt for water transport whenever possible.
- We analyse samples of the soil to determine its composition and PFAS concentration. Based on these results, we fine-tune the process parameters such as our in-house developed additives.
- The soil enters the plant through a dosing machine, is first sieved and split into stones and organic material on the one hand, and soil on the other.
- The stones are washed and are then ready for reuse, for instance in construction works.
- The soil is then thoroughly washed and split into a coarse sand fraction and a fine fraction. Mutual friction between the sand particles detaches the last PFAS, resulting in clean sand and water. The process water is purified and reused in the washing process.
- The fine PFAS fraction is dewatered, dry-pressed to reduce its volume and disposed of
2,000 tonnes of soil per day
Our PFAS washing plant in Ghent is our third in line alongside our plants in Liège and Toulon in France. With the three plants combined, we can make up to 2,000 tonnes of soil PFAS-free every day.
The aim of the PFAS washing plant is protecting nature from start to finish. First of all, no water is lost during the soil washing process. The process water is continuously treated and reused in subsequent washing cycles.
What's more, the process generates reusable raw materials that are reused in infrastructure works. Finally, all our soil washing plants are semi-mobile and can therefore be used on site. This avoids heavy transport and again reduces our carbon footprint.
