This study evaluated the feasibility of combined use of physical separation and soil washing to remediate heavy metals (Pb and Cu) contaminated soil in a military shooting range. The soils were classified into two types based on the level of heavy metal concentrations: a higher contaminated soil (HCS) with Pb and Cu concentrations of 6,243 mg/kg and 407 mg/kg, respectively, and a lower contaminated soil (LCS) with their concentrations of 1,658 mg/kg and 232 mg/kg. Pb level in both soils exceeded the regulatory limit (700 mg/kg), and its concentration generally increased with decreasing soil particle size. However, in some cases, Pb concentrations increased with increasing soil particle size, presumably due to the presence of residues of bullets in the soil matrix. As a pretreatment step, a shaking table was used for physical separation of soil to remove bullet residues while fractionating the contaminated soils into different sizes. The most effective separation and fractionation were achieved at vibration velocity of 296 rpm/min, the table slope of 7.0°, and the separating water flow rate of 23 L/min. The efficiency of ensuing soil washing process for LCS was maximized by using 0.5% HCl with the soil:washing solution mixing ratio of 1:3 for 1 hr treatment. On the contrary, HCS was most effectively remediated by using 1.0% HCl with the same soil:solution mixing ratio for 3 hr. This work demonstrated that the combined use of physical separation and soil washing could be a viable option to remediate soils highly contaminated with heavy metals.

Keywords: Heavy metal contaminated soil, Military shooting range, Physical separation, Soil washing