Environmental

Flow-Through Reactor for the In Situ Assessment of Remediation Technologies in Vadose and Saturated Zones

Related Patents:  6681872

Contact: David R. Anderson

Phone: (208) 526-0837

E-mail:  Send E-mail

This bioreactor replaces lab work for hazardous waste treat ability studies aimed at assessing remediation technologies. It operates as an adaptable, flexible, in-situ, flow through reactor: easily deployed and applicable to both vadose and saturated zones. Subsurface cores under interrogation may be monitored and manipulated in real time. Manipulations (including amendment addition and effluent sampling) can be performed in either continuous or batch modes, and the treatment added may be diluted with subsurface gases or groundwater to any desired strength. These attributes make the invention ideally suited to assessing remediation technology for most hazardous waste cleanup sites. Unique features include: near-undisturbed subsurface operation, simple deployment with existing hardware, controllability from the surface, and soil core retrieval for further assessment or safe disposal. The bioreactor provides more predictive treat ability studies, reduced cost for overall cleanup, and greatly reduced cost for remedial investigation. Other benefits include improved assessment of remediation alternatives, high field replication for treatment strategies, positive and negative controls in the field, lower amounts of waste from investigations, and deployment in existing treatment plumes for “remediation tuning.”