Site 5 air sparging pilot test, Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Florida

Abstract

A 72-h air sparging pilot test was conducted at Site 5 (Operable Unit 2), Naval Air Station Cecil Field, Jacksonville, FL, to determine performance parameters necessary for full-scale design. The sparge well was completed to a depth of 29 ft, several feet below the groundwater plume contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX). Air flow rates supplied to the sparge well were 3 cubic feet/min (cfm) during the first day, 2 cfm during the second day, and 1 cfm during the third day. Water levels in monitoring wells initially rose approximately 2 ft during the first 4–5 h of the test, then receded back to pre-test equilibrium levels over the next 15 h, for a total duration of water mounding of about 20 h. A small (approximately 0.5 ft) water table drop, with subsequent recovery to equilibrium level, occurred each time the air sparging rate was decreased. Although there is considerable variation depending on direction from the sparge well, the average radius of influence varied from approximately 30 ft at 1 cfm to 50 ft at 3 cfm. The air sparge system was capable of increasing the dissolved oxygen from 0 to 6 or 7 mg/l within 12–15 h of air channels reaching a given location. A lag time of approximately 13 h was observed before air channels reached a radius of 30 ft and dissolved oxygen levels began to increase at that radius. CO 2 (stripped out of the groundwater by the sparging) decreased from a pre-test concentration of 150 to 20 mg/l at r=5 ft, and from 150 to 50 mg/l at r=30 ft, within a period of about 24 h. The rate of VOC mass removal during the pilot test was 0.06 lb/day at a sparge rate of 3 cfm, and it appears that air sparging will effect a rapid cleanup of the VOCs in the Site 5 groundwater plume.