Testing of dioxin contaminated soil washing technology at Bien Hoa airport

The technology is expected to eliminate over 90% of dioxin contaminated soil and 70% of contaminated soil is restored and reused.

On the afternoon of September 4, the Ministry of Defense and Shimizu Group announced a memorandum of cooperation and a plan to test the technology of washing dioxin contaminated soil at Bien Hoa airport (Dong Nai).

Treatment of dioxin contaminated soil at Da Nang airport in 2016. (Photo: MT).

As planned, by the end of December 2018, Shimizu Group will bring a cleaning factory from Japan, assemble and operate the test at Bien Hoa airport. The plant has a maximum capacity of 40 tons / hour, starting operation from January 2019.

With this technology, contaminated soil will be screened for grain size, then washed and scrubbed. It will then float to allow the pollutants to emerge, stick to the surface of the air bubbles and be removed.

In the past, dioxin contaminated soil was often treated by heating treatment (at temperatures above 850 degrees Celsius). In this way the processing costs will be high and require strict emission management.

Lower cost washing technology and less environmental impact. After washing, combined with combustion technology, the cost of cleaning soil is only half that of conventional combustion technology. This technology allows over 90% removal of dioxins in the soil and restores 70% of the reusable contaminated soil.

Experts and delegates exchanged views on soil washing technology in the afternoon of September 4 in Hanoi.(Photo: AT).

Vietnam currently has 28 dioxin contaminated sites, including Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat airports, which are US military airports used in the war. At Bien Hoa airport, it is estimated that the largest amount of dioxin contaminated soil in the country is about 850,000 tons.

Previously, there were 13ha of land at Da Nang airport cleaned up with dioxin by heat removal technology.

The government aims to clean up polluted areas across the country from now until 2030. Currently the Ministry of Defense is the host of the project in the process of selecting technology to clean up contaminated soil in time. earliest.