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TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION REPORT: SITE PROGRAM DEMONSTRATION TEST - ACCUTECH PNEUMATIC FRACTURING EXTRACTION AND HOT GAS INJECTION, PHASE 1 - VOLUME I
Citation:
Skovronek, H. TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION REPORT: SITE PROGRAM DEMONSTRATION TEST - ACCUTECH PNEUMATIC FRACTURING EXTRACTION AND HOT GAS INJECTION, PHASE 1 - VOLUME I. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/R-93/509 (NTIS 93-216596), 1993.
Description:
The Pneumatic Fracturing Extraction (PFE) process developed by Accutech Remedial Systems, Inc. makes it possible to use vapor extraction to remove volatile organics at increased rates from a broader range of vadose zones. The low permeability of silts, clays, shales, etc. would otherwise make such formations unsuitable for cost-effective vapor extraction and require more costly approaches. Pneumatic fracturing provides an innovative means of increasing the permeability of a formation and thus extending the radius of influence so that contaminants can be effectively extracted. In the PFE process, fracture wells are drilled in the contaminated vadose zone and left open bore (uncased) for most of their depth. A packer system is used to isolate small (2 ft) intervals so that short bursts (- 20 sec) of compressed air (less than 500 psig) can be injected into the interval to fracture the formation. The process is repeated for each interval. The fracturing extends and enlarges existing fissures and/or introduces new fractures, primarily in the horizontal direction. When fracturing has been completed, the formations then subjected to vapor extraction.