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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Environmental Geosciences (DEG)

Abstract

Environmental Geosciences, V. 11, No. 4 (December 2004), P. 239-253.

Copyright copy2004. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Division of Environmental Geosciences. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1306/eg.06150404016

Remediation of a chlorinated solvent-contaminated site using steam injection and extraction

David Parkinson,1 Norm Brown,2 Everett Sorensen,3 Charlie Eischen,4 James Kupar,5 Thomas Kmetz6

1Integrated Water Resources, Inc., 18 Anacapa Street, Second Floor, Santa Barbara, California 93101;[email protected]
2Integrated Water Resources, Inc., 18 Anacapa Street, Second Floor, Santa Barbara, California 93101
3Integrated Water Resources, Inc., 18 Anacapa Street, Second Floor, Santa Barbara, California 93101
4EWC, Inc., 6818 47th Ave NE, Seattle, Washington 98115
5Bechtel Savannah River Inc., Savannah River Site, Building 730-2B, Room 3149, Aiken, South Carolina 29808
6Bechtel Savannah River Inc., Savannah River Site, Building 730-2B, Room 3149, Aiken, South Carolina 29808

AUTHORS

David Parkinson obtained his B.A. degree in geological sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara; his M.Sc. degree in geological sciences at the University of British Columbia; and his Ph.D. in geological sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Parkinson has been with Integrated Water Resources since 1996, providing research and consulting services in water resources, water quality, and thermal remediation.

Norm Brown obtained his B.A. degree in geology at Carleton College and his M.A. degree and his Ph.D. in geological sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. An expert in natural resources with experience in the water resources, precious metals, and oil and gas industries, Brown is trained in structural geology and earthquake studies and currently provides research and consulting services in water resource science and management.

Everett Sorensen obtained his M.S. degree civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and is a professional civil engineer in the states of California, Washington, Florida, and South Carolina. Sorensen has been active in environmental and thermal remediation for many years. He is presently working on a variety of projects.

Charles Eischen obtained his M.S. degree in civil engineering (environmental) at Stanford University, his B.S. degree in ocean engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy, and is a professional mechanical engineer in the states of Washington, California, and South Carolina. He is a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Eischen is also principal of EWC, Inc.

James Kupar received his M.S. degree in environmental sciences and engineering at Virginia Tech and his B.S. degree in earth and environmental sciences at Wilkes University. Kupar is a professional engineer in the state of South Carolina and works for Bechtel Savannah River, Inc. Over the last 10 years, his work has dealt exclusively with environmental remediation processes, including airlift recirculation wells, biosparge systems, soil vapor extraction, and dense nonaqueous-phase liquid remediation.

Thomas Kmetz is a team leader and project manager at Bechtel Savannah River Inc.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Numerous groups at the Savannah River Site contributed to the success of the project by providing assistance, review, and oversight throughout. Use of site-produced steam contributed considerably to simplification of the deployment, allowing the team to concentrate on issues associated with the technology instead of the ancillary services. We thank John Huston, Jennifer Newton, Doug LaBrecque, Roger Aines, Robin Newmark, Jesse Yow, Gerry “Bull” Bullard, and Sandy Riggsbee.

ABSTRACT

The remediation methods designed and deployed for use at the Department of Energy Savannah River Site 321-M solvent storage tank area (SSTA) comprise a complete set of cleanup and control techniques using steam remediation and electrical resistance tomography. The technologies include the engineered combination of steam injection; dual-phase extraction for subsurface remediation; and an in-situ tomographic imaging technology for monitoring of thermal treatment zones in the subsurface. The technologies use methods developed for enhanced oil recovery using steam injection.

At the SSTA, the remediation zone was 31 times 31 m (100 times 100 ft) on the surface and extended from 6- to 49-m (20- to 160-ft) depth. The ambient water table exists at approximately 44-m (145-ft) depth. Steam injection wells ringed the target zone, with multiphase extraction dominated by a centered dual-phase extraction well, with three additional existing perimeter vapor extraction wells.

The SSTA field-scale deployment of steam injection, groundwater pumping, and vapor extraction removed 31,000 kg (68,000 lb) of volatile organic compounds during 12 months of operation. Total steam injected for the 12-month period of operations was approximately 48 times 109 kJ (45 times 109 BTU), injected at wellhead pressures between 0.15 and 0.38 MPa (7 and 40 psig), depending on lithology of the screened interval, depth, and operational considerations.

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