In-Situ Thermal Remediation of Contaminant Below the Water Table

In-Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD) is a soil heating remediation technology currently applied primarily to remove organic contaminants from the vadose zone. It has been shown to be effective in the clean up of a wide range of contaminants from volatile organics to heavy oils. A removal on the order of 99.99% of the contaminants has been documented in several field tests. This is a very robust technology that could prove invaluable in the remediation of saturated zone contamination. To date, however, there has been little research into the feasibility of its application when contaminants are located in the saturated zone. To this end, two-dimensional numerical simulations using a commercial reservoir simulator were performed. The contaminant type, aquifer permeability, and hydraulic gradient are some of the factors that may affect the use of ISTD in the saturated zone. Simulations were run varying these parameters to ascertain their effects upon process performance. The results show that it is possible to use ISTD in the saturated zone and that the remediation time is dependent upon these factors.