Surfactant enhanced remediation of an alluvial aquifer contaminated with DNAPL

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:570001

Londergan, J T; Meinardus, H W ^[1]; Pope, G A; Brown, C L ^[2]

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1. INTERA Inc., Austin, TX (United States)
2. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

During 1996, a successful demonstration of surfactant-enhanced-aquifer-remediation (SEAR) and the use of partitioning interwell tracer tests (PITTs) was conducted beneath the former waste disposal trenches at Operable Unit 2 at Hill AFB, Utah. The trenches had received large volumes of chlorinated solvents from degreasing operations. The solvents drained downward, pooling in an alluvial sand aquifer confined in a buried paleochannel eroded into thick clay deposits. The hydraulic conductivity of the alluvium is in the range of 10{sup -3} to 10{sup -2} cm/sec. The well array installed for the demonstration consisted of a line of three injection wells, a line of three extraction wells, a central observation well, and a single hydraulic control well. The distance between injectors and extractors was 20 feet; the distance between individual injectors and extractors in line was 10 feet. The water table was 25 feet below ground surface with a saturated zone approximately 19 feet thick. There was a 4 foot thick zone of DNAPL 42-46 feet below ground surface. The injectors and extractors were completed in this DNAPL zone. The demonstration was conducted in two phases. The first of these consisted of an initial partitioning interwell tracer test (PITT) followed by a pilot scale surfactant flood. The PITT indicated that a total of approximately 346 gallons of DNAPL was present in, the demonstration area. The pilot scale surfactant flood demonstrated the efficacy of the surfactant, showed there was no degradation of hydraulic conductivity due to the introduction of a surfactant solution, and demonstrated that the effluent could be efficiently treated by the on-site steam stripper. Approximately 185 gallons of DNAPL were removed from the aquifer by the pilot scale surfactant flood. The second phase consisted of a pre-flood PITT, a line drive surfactant flood, and a post-flood PITT.

• OSTI ID: 570001
• Report Number(s): CONF-971116--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
AQUIFERS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GROUND WATER
MILITARY FACILITIES
NONAQUEOUS SOLVENTS
REMEDIAL ACTION
SURFACTANTS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
UTAH