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Title: SEQUESTRATION AND TREATMENT OF VADOSE ZONE SOLVENTS USING EDIBLE OILS

Conference ·
OSTI ID:927600

Edible oils have emerged as an effective treatment amendment for a variety of contaminants. When applied to chlorinated volatile organic compounds (cVOCs) in the saturated zone, edible oils have been shown to enhance anaerobic bioremediation and sequester the contaminants. However, edible oils have not been applied to the vadose zone for contaminant treatment. Soybean oil was injected into the vadose zone in M-Area at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS) as a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of edible oils for solvent sequestration and the ability to change a vadose system from aerobic to anaerobic to initiate reductive dechlorination. The proposed use of this technique would be an enhanced attenuation/transition step after active remediation. The goals of the research were to evaluate oil emplacement methods and monitoring techniques to measure oil placement, partitioning and degradation. Gas sampling was the cornerstone for this evaluation. Analyses for cVOCs and biotransformation products were performed. Overall, the cVOC concentration/flux reduction was 75-85% in this vadose zone setting. Destruction of the cVOCs by biotic or abiotic process has not yet been verified at this site. No reductive dechlorination products have been measured. The deployment has resulted in a substantial generation of light hydrocarbon gases and geochemical conditions that would support cometabolism.

Research Organization:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC09-96SR18500
OSTI ID:
927600
Report Number(s):
WSRC-STI-2008-00175; TRN: US0803206
Resource Relation:
Conference: Remediation of Cholorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English