PNNL

Abstract

Soil vapor extraction (SVE) is a baseline remediation approach for volatile contaminants. While SVE is generally effective for removal of contaminants from higher permeability portions of the vadose zone, contamination in low-permeability zones can persist due to mass transfer processes that limit the removal effectiveness. Thus, a diminishing rate of contaminant extraction over time is typically observed, yet contamination may remain in low-permeability zones. Under these conditions, SVE performance needs to be evaluated to determine whether the system should be optimized, terminated, or transitioned to another technology to replace or augment SVE. Methodologies have been developed to quantify SVE performance over time and to evaluate the impact of persistent vadose zone contamination sources on groundwater quality. Recently, these methods have applied mass flux/discharge concepts to quantify contaminant source strength. Methods include field measurement techniques using the SVE system to quantify source strength and predictive analyses with analytical and numerical models to evaluate the impact of the contaminant source on groundwater.