Six-phase soil heating for enhanced removal of contaminants: Volatile organic compounds in non-arid soils integrated demonstration, Savannah River Site

摘要

In November 1993, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) and Savannah River Site (SRS) personnel conducted a demonstration of six-phase soil heating (SPSH) at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina. The demonstration was part of the Volatile Organic Compounds in Non-Arid Soils Integrated Demonstration being conducted near the M-Area operations at the SRS, along a corridor that once contained a process sewer leading to the M-Area seepage basin. In the early 1980s, this sewer line was discovered to be leaking process wastes into the subsurface and contributing to groundwater contamination in the vicinity of M-Area seepage basin. Although use of the sewer line has been discontinued, the slow release of chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) from the heterogeneous vadose zone soil continues to be a source of potential groundwater contamination. A significant portion of the VOCs at the demonstration site are retained in low-permeability clay zones. Previous studies have shown that the rate of conventional SVE remediation of the SRS clays is quite slow. The permeability of the clay is of order 10(sup (minus)12) cm(sup 2), which makes this a particularly difficult interval to remediate. Thus, the challenge for SPSH is to effectively remediate this clay zone by accelerating the removal of TCE and PCE.