Bioventing reduces soil cleanup costs
- Groundwater Technology Inc., Hartford, CT (United States)
- Groundwater Technology Inc., Concord, CA (United States)
An offshoot technology from soil venting, bioventing offers a win-win solution for soils contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nonvolatile contaminants such as diesel and fuel oil. Using low air flowrates through permeable soils, bioventing injects sufficient oxygen to support naturally-occurring bacteria, which biodegraded the VOCs and other contaminants into benign byproducts. Waste gas can be directly discharged to atmosphere without further treatment. This results in no offgas treatment required. Bioventing is a cost-effective alternative to traditional soil-venting techniques. Soil venting uses air to volatilize organic-compound contamination from the vadose zone, the unsaturated soil layer above groundwater. Unfortunately, this simple-and-fast approach creates a waste offgas that requires further treatment before discharge, thus adding significantly to overall project costs. In contrast, bioventing uses low air flowrates, which require lower capital and operating costs. No offgas treatment further reduces equipment and operating costs and often eliminates air permitting. As in all treatment strategies, the process must meet the cleanup objectives. Bioventing is an alternative technique making inroads into refining and petrochemical soil-remediation applications.
- OSTI ID:
- 94291
- Journal Information:
- Hydrocarbon Processing, Vol. 74, Issue 8; Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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