In situ biosparging at an Amoco site: Subsurface air distribution and biostimulation
- Amoco Corp., Naperville, IL (United States)
- Amoco Corp., Livonia, MI (United States)
- Amoco Oil Co., Chicago, IL (United States)
A pilot test was conducted at an Amoco Oil petroleum products storage terminal to investigate the effectiveness of in situ biosparging for soil and groundwater remediation. This process was designed to reduce hydrocarbon concentrations in both soil and groundwater by promoting in situ biodegradation through air injection at low flowrates below the water table. The radius of influence of injected air in soil and groundwater was between 4.5 to 6.0 m (15 to 20 ft) at air flowrates of 40 to 85 standard liters per minute (1.5 to 3.0 scfm), by oxygen, carbon dioxide, and dissolved oxygen measurements. A helium tracer test demonstrated relatively uniform air channel distribution within 4.5 m (15 ft) in the saturated zone. The oxygen uptake rate in soil was between 0.08% and 0.21% per hour, which corresponds to a theoretical soil hydrocarbon biodegradation rate between 1.5 to 3.9 mg/kg soil/day. A three-order-of-magnitude increase in bacterial population in the capillary fringe, the increase in groundwater bacterial population, and a reduction in groundwater benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) concentrations after one month of biosparging demonstrated the effectiveness of this technology in stimulating biological degradation in the groundwater.
- OSTI ID:
- 467738
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950483--; ISBN 1-57477-003-9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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