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COMETABOLIC BIOVENTING FIELD TEST AT DOVER AFBSayles, G.D. (U.S. EPA, Cincinnati, OH); L.E. Moser (Zeneca Corp., Mississauga, Ont.); D.J. Gannon; P. Morgan (ICI Technology, Runcom, Cheshire, UK); T. Franz (Beatty and Franz and Assoc., Bolton, Ont.); A. Mason; S. Pfiffner (Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville); A.V. Palumbo (Oak Ridge National Lab., Oak Ridge, TN); A. Lightner (Air Force Research Lab, Tyndall AFB, FL); S.P. Farrington (Applied Research Assoc., Inc., South Royalton, VT); J.A. Deramo (Dover AFB, Dover, DE); C. Mikula Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds: The Second International Conference Battelle Press, Columbus, OH. 2000
A comprehensive field test of cometabolic bioventing was conducted at
Dover Air Force Base, Dover, Delaware, by the Remediation Technologies
Development Forum Bioremediation Consortium. The site was contaminated with
TCE, 1,2-cis DCE and 1,1,1-TCA in the vadose zone. The strategy was to deliver
a gaseous mixture of cosubstrate and air, as an oxygen source, to the vadose
zone to drive the aerobic biodegradation of the target compounds. Laboratory
treatability studies using soil from the site showed that the cosubstrate
propane promoted the most rapid cometabolic biodegradation of TCE and TCA,
relative to toluene and methane. The technology was tested adjacent to a jet
engine maintenance facility that used TCE and TCA to clean engine parts.
Vadose zone and ground-water contamination in the area are attributed to leaks
in the industrial sewer line. The initial TCE, DCE and TCA levels were up to
15, 35 and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Depth to ground water varied with time
from six to 10 ft. A 20 foot x 30 foot test plot was established that included
air/propane injection and soil gas sampling points over a 10 foot depth
interval below surface. A detailed performance monitoring program was
implemented. Following a period of acclimation to propane, the system was
operated from May 1998 to August 1999. Large drops over time of the VOC
concentrations in the soil gas indicated that significant VOC removal was
occurring, and the propane uptake tests showed that propane was rapidly used
by the vadose zone microorganisms. Microbial analysis showed that the number
of propane degraders increased during the test. The authors also discuss the
results of initial and final soil sampling. Model simulations, from a
mathematical model developed for process design and description, are presented
and compared to the field data.
The Technology Innovation News Survey welcomes your comments and
suggestions, as well as information about errors for correction. Please
contact Michael Adam of the U.S. EPA Office of Superfund Remediation
and Technology Innovation at adam.michael@epa.gov or (703) 603-9915
with any comments, suggestions, or corrections.
Mention of non-EPA documents, presentations, or papers does not constitute a U.S. EPA endorsement of their contents, only an acknowledgment that they exist and may be relevant to the Technology Innovation News Survey audience.