A comparison between field applications of NZVI

Despite the use of Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron (NZVI) for the remediation of contaminated aquifers was proposed more than 10 years ago, there’s a wide literature and a good market demand, its application is still limited. The aim of this study is to understand the reason why the number of full scale applications is so small and to systematizes the information arising these experiences. For sake of comparison, the study includes also some clean up treatments where micrometric and granular iron particles were used. The case studies are compared from several point of view such as the target of the treatment, the invasivity, the hydrodynamic properties of the equifer, etc. From the comparison we can deduce that this new technology doesn’t substitute the traditional one, which is still competitive for example from the economic point of view. NZVI has however some peculiar features, which makes it very different and superior to coarser iron. The first feature is the reactivity which shortens the remediation time but also makes iron prone to passivation. The second feature is the mobility in the aquifer, which helps the delivery of iron particles towards source areas, but can also lead to undesired migrations of iron particles.