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Pulsed-Jet Ground Penetration for Delivery of In Situ Bioremediation Agents

EPA Contract Number: 68D50108
Title: Pulsed-Jet Ground Penetration for Delivery of In Situ Bioremediation Agents
Investigators: Kolle, Jack
Small Business: Quest Integrated Inc.
EPA Contact: Manager, SBIR Program
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 1995 through March 1, 1996
Project Amount: $65,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (1994)
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , SBIR - Remediation

Description:

In situ bioremediation would significantly reduce the costs and risks associated with the cleanup of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon (CAH) solvent contamination in the vadose zone and in groundwater. CAH remediation requires controlled access to the subsurface for delivery and mixing of a variety of chemical and biological agents. Safe, cost-effective, and controlled access for CAH bioremediation is not provided by existing techniques such as well injection or mechanical mixing. Quest Integrated, Inc., propose to develop an ultrahigh-pressure pulsed-jet system capable of punching deep (10 m) holes in heterogeneous soils and fracturing the surrounding formation. This approach offers rapid, positive access to the contaminated zone by the microbes, substrates, and electron-acceptors required by CAH cometabolic degradation in the vadose zone. Deployed in a borehole, the pulsed-jet system will greatly increase the permeability of formations surrounding a wellpoint allowing implementation of methods to circulate and teat contaminated groundwater. The pulsed-jet technique provides a flexible means of ground penetration and permeability enhancement that will enable a variety of CAH bioremediation schemes. This approach provides rapid low-cost access to the subsurface while minimizing the exposure of workers and the public to contaminants.

Supplemental Keywords:

small business, SBIR, hazardous waste, engineering, chemistry. , Water, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Contaminated Sediments, Groundwater remediation, Engineering, remediation, soil and groundwater remediation, soil perforator, soil perferator, groundwater, contaminated sediment, groundwater contamination, in situ treatment, sediment treatment, wells, in situ remediation

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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