Grantee Research Project Results
2000 Progress Report: Natural Remediation of Contaminated Soil and Ground Water by Barometric Pumping
EPA Grant Number: R826162Title: Natural Remediation of Contaminated Soil and Ground Water by Barometric Pumping
Investigators: Smith, James A.
Institution: University of Virginia
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: January 1, 1998 through December 31, 2001 (Extended to August 31, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2001
Project Amount: $360,027
RFA: Exploratory Research - Environmental Engineering (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Safer Chemicals , Land and Waste Management
Objective:
The primary objective is to develop and test a vertical flux chamber to measure the flux of volatile organic vapors from the unsaturated zone to the atmosphere. The flux chamber can be used to monitor natural attenuation of pollutants in ground water and the unsaturated zone.Progress Summary:
Over the past year, work has focused on two primary areas. The first area is the analysis and synthesis of field and laboratory data collected in the early stages of the project. This work has resulted in the preparation of three archival journal papers (Olson, et al., 2001; Bartelt-Hunt and Smith, 2001; Choi, et al., 2001). All three of these papers represent work in support of the field testing of our flux chamber.The second primary area of our work over the past year has been on the development of our laboratory experimental procedures to test our flux chamber design in the laboratory. Prior to the laboratory experiments, we have conducted numerous simulations to determine the optimum airflow rates and chamber size to maximize the efficiency of the chamber for a wide variety of environmental conditions. Following these design simulations, we have constructed a prototype chamber for laboratory testing. In the past 3-4 months, we have built the experimental system to test this flux chamber. The system can be adjusted to produce diffusion-only fluxes, advection-dominated fluxes, or any relative combination of the two.
Future Activities:
In the upcoming year, our goals are as follows:- Complete our laboratory evaluation of the vertical flux chamber.
- Complete computer simulations on the effects of temperature and water-table position on advective and diffusive fluxes of organic vapors in the unsaturated zone.
- Conduct our final, detailed field investigation. In this investigation, we will test the vertical flux chamber at Picatinny Arsenal and compare our flux chamber measurements to the results of model simulations of measured field data from the unsaturated zone (e.g., moisture content, air temperature and pressure, and TCE vapor concentrations).
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 21 publications | 6 publications in selected types | All 5 journal articles |
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Bartelt-Hunt SL, Smith JA. Measurement of effective air diffusion coefficients for trichloroethene in undisturbed soil cores. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 2002;56(3-4):193-208. |
R826162 (2000) R826162 (Final) |
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Choi J-W, Tillman Jr. FD, Smith JA. Relative importance of gas-phase diffusive and advective trichloroethene (TCE) fluxes in the unsaturated zone under natural conditions. Environmental Science & Technology 2002;36(14):3157-3164. |
R826162 (2000) R826162 (Final) |
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Olson MS, Tillman Jr. FD, Choi J-W, Smith JA. Comparison of three techniques to measure unsaturated-zone air permeability at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 2001;53(1-2):1-19. |
R826162 (2000) R826162 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
trichloroethene, natural attenuation, natural remediation, groundwater, chemical transport, restoration, cleanup, innovative technology, environmental chemistry, engineering, hydrology, measurement methods, EPA Region 2, northeast., Scientific Discipline, Water, Waste, Toxics, Remediation, Environmental Chemistry, 33/50, Contaminated Sediments, Groundwater remediation, VOCs, Hydrology, Environmental Engineering, contaminant transport, contaminated sediment, natural attenuation, barometric pumping, benzene, Tetrachloroethylene, chemical contaminants, soil sediment, groundwater plumes, carbon tetrachloride, verticle flux chamber, chemical transportProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.