Investigation of Remediation of Soil Contaminated With Diesel Fuel Using Air Venting

Abstract

Abstract Soil venting is an effective and widely used method to remediate hydrocarbonically contaminated soils. A non-isothermal model, proposed by Lingineni and Dhir (1992) to predict evaporation rates of organic contaminants in an unsaturated non-sorbing soil, was incorporated into a computer code capable of numerically analyzing multi-component diesel fuel. The program accounts for 14 major components of diesel fuel as well as for temperature variation due to evaporation of the contaminant, preheating of the venting air, and heat loss. Experiments to verify the model performance were conducted in a one-dimensional column. Temperature readings from thermocouples located in the test section were recorded during the experiment and the composition of hydrocarbons in the effluent air was also monitored. The effluent gas samples were extracted at the selected times and analyzed with the help of a gas chromatograph. The experimental temperature readings and vapor composition in the extracted samples are in general agreement with the predictions from the computer program. The results show that the diesel components are removed according to their volatility with the higher volatility components being removed first. It is also found that preheating of the venting air can significantly increase the removal rates of the components.