Research Information System
3rd International Eurasian Conference on Science, Engineering and Technology (EurasianSciEnTech 2021) , Ankara, Turkey, 15 - 17 December 2021, pp.34
Some of the environmental problems that arise in meeting the increasing demand for agricultural-based food
due to the increasing population can be outlined as excessive usage of chemicals (fertilizers, etc.) to increase
productivity, over-irrigation, and saltwater intrusion due to uncontrolled pumping out of groundwater in
coastal areas. For these reasons, in many countries including Turkey, particularly on semi-arid regions, bring
about both the decline in agricultural productivity and health problems related to food products containing the
heavy metal accumulation. Although there are many methods on the treatment of polution, faster results are
obtained in the application of the electrokinetic method. The method relies on the fact that a specific value of
the electrical current is injected from a set electrode (source) into the soil and then gathers the pollutant carried
by the current to another set (sink). The electrolytic conduction causes source electrodes to deteriorate quickly.
In this study, we tested the usability of various electrodes for the electrokinetic treatment method while
removing salinity from the soil samples taken from Dardanos District of Çanakkale province. The sample
taken from the study area is silty agricultural soil. Its pH value is 8.33, electrical conductivity (EC) is 1282 μs
/ cm and NaCl equivalent is 0.45%. In the experiments, three rows of electrode pairs were placed in the plastic
container. The cathode-anode-cathode arrangement was applied in the electrode array. The dimensions of the
electrodes used in the study are galvanized coated steel electrodes L=58 mm r=1.5 mm, copper electrodes
L=160 mm and r=0.5 mm. In addition, an experiment was conducted with an aluminum plate measuring
92x65x1 mm. According to the electrode type, a decrease in electrical conductivity of 13.5% in copper, 19.4%
in galvanized steel, and 44% in the aluminum plate was observed however, destructive corrosion occurred in
all electrodes.