Vapor Extraction Optimization
Type |
- Testing of Remediation Technologies
- Performance Monitoring
- Site Characterization
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Location |
Galloway Township, NJ (30 miles northwest of Atlantic
City, NJ) |
Partners |
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Technology |
- Airflow Simulation
- Vapor Extraction
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Contaminants |
Gasoline |
Description |
The site of a gasoline spill from a leaking underground storage
tank in Galloway Township, New Jersey, served as a test bed for
the development of software to model the flow of air in the unsaturated
zone. A soil vapor extraction system was set up at the site
to develop data sets to test models of airflow in the unsaturated
zone. USGS scientists developed two public domain models -- AIR2D
and AIR3D. These models provide the tools for practitioners
to design and optimize vapor extraction systems. USGS scientists
also developed pneumatic tests to collect air permeability data
in the unsaturated zone. Data on the distribution of air permeability
is needed as an input parameter for the models.
The vapor extraction system at the site successfully reduced concentrations
of volatile organic compounds
in the unsaturated zone. Monitored natural attenuation was chosen
as the final remediation technology for the site. Although the air
flow models were not used to optimize the vapor extraction system
at this site, the models have been used extensively by the remediation
community to design cost efficient vapor extraction systems at contamination
sites. The models allowed practitioners to improve the efficiency
of their extraction systems to levels that would not have been possible
without the airflow models.
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More Information |
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Contact |
Arthur Baehr, USGS, New Jersey District, West Trenton,
NJ, |
Publications |
- Baehr, A.L., and Bruell, C.J., 1990,
- Application of the Stefan-Maxwell equations to determine limitations
of Fick's Law when modeling organic vapor transport in sand columns:
Water Resources Research, v. 26, no. 6, p. 1155-1163.
- Baehr, A.L., and Hult, M.F., 1991,
- Evaluation of unsaturated zone air permeability through pneumatic
tests: Water Resources Research, v. 27, no. 10, p. 2605-2617.
- Baehr, A.L., and Joss, C.J., 1995,
- An updated model of induced air flow in the unsaturated zone:
Water Resources Research, v. 31, no. 2, p. 417-421.
- Fischer, J.M., Baker, R.J., Lahvis, M.A., and Baehr, A.L., 1996,
- Determination
of vapor-phase diffusion coefficients for unsaturated-zone sediments
at a gasoline-spill site in Galloway Township, New Jersey,
in Morganwalp, D.W., and Aronson, D.A., eds., U.S. Geological
Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the
technical meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24,
1993: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report
94-4015, v. 1, p. 35-41.
- Joss, C.J., and Baehr, A.L., 1995,
- Documentation of AIR3D, An adaptation of the ground water flow
code MODFLOW to simulate three-dimensional airflow in the unsaturated
zone: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-533, 154 p.
- Joss, C.J., and Baehr, A.L., 1996,
- A
multispecies transport model to simulate vapor extraction and
bioventing remediation of unsaturated zones contaminated with
gasoline, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Aronson, D.A., eds.,
U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings
of the technical meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September
20-24, 1993: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations
Report 94-4015, v. 1, p. 61-63.
- Joss, C.J., and Baehr, A.L., 1997,
- AIR2D - A computer code to simulate two-dimensional, radially
symmetric airflow in the unsaturated zone: U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 97-588, 106 p.
- Welty, C., Joss, C.J., and Baehr, A.L., 1996,
- Optimizing
the design of vapor-extraction remediation systems for removal
of organic contaminants from the unsaturated zone, in
Morganwalp, D.W., and Aronson, D.A., eds., U.S. Geological Survey
Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the technical
meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993: U.S.
Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015,
v. 1, p. 55-59.
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