Effects of organic carbon content on in situ remediation time using steam–air injection

Abstract

Groundwater contamination by chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC) is a common phenomenon that poses health risks to both humans and animals. These halogenated hydrocarbons infiltrate into the soil matrices and form pools at the bottoms of the aquifers thus contaminating the groundwater sources. Thermally enhanced soil vapour extraction (TSVE) using steam–air injection has gained popularity as an alternative technique to remediate the saturated and vadose source zones contaminated with CHC. This technique has been successfully applied in the remediation of contaminated sites (brownfields, industrial sites) and groundwater. However, the presence of organic carbon (OC) contents within the soil matrices has not been intensively studied. This paper, therefore, intends to contribute toward increasing the understanding of the effects of OC on the remediation time using TSVE. A 2-D flume experimental model was conducted in VEGAS laboratory using coarse sand, fine sand and silty soil with 0, 1 and 2% addition of the activated carbon as OC to investigate the desorption time of PCE and TCE as CHC during TSVE extraction using steam–air injection. 100 kg of soil mixed with the activated carbon was treated with 50 g TCE and 50 g PCE and then remediated using TSVE. The remediation times were recorded and recovered CHC was documented. It was discovered that the presence of OC enhanced the adsorption of the CHC onto the soil matrices thereby increasing the time required for the complete remediation of the contaminant from the soil. An increase of OC by 1% resulted in desorption time by a factor of 4–7.