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U.S. Department of Energy
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Engineering-scale evaluation of thermal desorption technology for manufactured-gas plant-site soils. Topical report, July 1988-August 1989

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6917711

As part of a program to evaluate and develop technologies for remediation of contaminated soils at manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites, pilot plant tests of a thermal desorption treatment technology were performed. Coal-tar-contaminated soil samples from three MGP sites were characterized, and bench-scale treatability tests were performed to establish treatment conditions to use for the pilot tests. A series of 11 pilot tests were completed using an indirectly heated rotary desorber operating at 30 to 60 kilograms/hour of soil. Treatment conditions of 300 C and 400 C and soil residence times of 5 and 9 minutes were used. Total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations were reduced to between 150 and 1 part per million (ppm) from initial levels of 2000 to 400 ppm, depending on treatment conditions. Temperature, residence time, and soil type all had a significant effect on treatment efficiency. Reasonable agreement was found among results from the static, batch, bench-scale test apparatus and the dynamic, continuous pilot plant.

Research Organization:
IT Corp., Knoxville, TN (USA)
OSTI ID:
6917711
Report Number(s):
PB-90-172529/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English