Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions

Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1997 Petroleum-based contamination of the environment has and will likely continue to be a problem as long as oil and natural gas supply much of the world energy demands. In cold regions, where vast quantities of these fuels are extracted and used...

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Main Author: Filler, Dennis M.
Other Authors: Carlson, Robert F.
Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
Language:unknown
Published: 1997
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9474
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spelling ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/9474 2023-05-15T18:28:38+02:00 Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions Filler, Dennis M. Carlson, Robert F. 1997 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9474 unknown http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9474 Civil engineering Environmental engineering Microbiology Dissertation phd 1997 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:37:16Z Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1997 Petroleum-based contamination of the environment has and will likely continue to be a problem as long as oil and natural gas supply much of the world energy demands. In cold regions, where vast quantities of these fuels are extracted and used, climate and frozen soils limit remedial efforts to a few technologies. Bioventing has shown promise as a viable method for the remediation of spilled petroleum-based fuels in cold regions. An in situ study of bioventing with soil warming was conducted at a Fairbanks, Alaska site. The main purpose of this research effort was to compare the effectiveness of thermal enhancement techniques applied to bioventing. Objectives included (1) developing a suitable thermal insulation system(s) that would provide year-round bioventing of petroleum contaminated soils, (2) modeling of the thermal regime below three treatment areas, (3) relating monitoring and testing data to thermally enhanced biodegradation, and (4) presenting the information in a way that is useful to engineers, biologists and environmental scientists. Active soil warming with electrical heat tape beneath polystyrene insulation and sand and gravel overburden raised subsurface soil temperatures from the ground surface to the water table by as much as 15$\sp\circ$F. The actively warmed test plot was successfully heated year-round, preventing soil freezing and enhancing microbial activity. Soil gas, microbiological, and geochemical sampling data evidenced correlation between increased bioactivity and soil warming. Passively treated soils evidenced some winter increase in temperatures, although some periodic soil freezing did occur. Overall, biodegradation within both passively treated and untreated contaminated test plots was noticeably slower than within the actively warmed plot. Thermally enhanced bioventing successfully remediated hydrocarbon contamination in vadose zone soils at a subarctic site within two years. After oxygen, temperature appears to be the ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis Subarctic Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks
institution Open Polar
collection University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA
op_collection_id ftunivalaska
language unknown
topic Civil engineering
Environmental engineering
Microbiology
spellingShingle Civil engineering
Environmental engineering
Microbiology
Filler, Dennis M.
Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
topic_facet Civil engineering
Environmental engineering
Microbiology
description Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1997 Petroleum-based contamination of the environment has and will likely continue to be a problem as long as oil and natural gas supply much of the world energy demands. In cold regions, where vast quantities of these fuels are extracted and used, climate and frozen soils limit remedial efforts to a few technologies. Bioventing has shown promise as a viable method for the remediation of spilled petroleum-based fuels in cold regions. An in situ study of bioventing with soil warming was conducted at a Fairbanks, Alaska site. The main purpose of this research effort was to compare the effectiveness of thermal enhancement techniques applied to bioventing. Objectives included (1) developing a suitable thermal insulation system(s) that would provide year-round bioventing of petroleum contaminated soils, (2) modeling of the thermal regime below three treatment areas, (3) relating monitoring and testing data to thermally enhanced biodegradation, and (4) presenting the information in a way that is useful to engineers, biologists and environmental scientists. Active soil warming with electrical heat tape beneath polystyrene insulation and sand and gravel overburden raised subsurface soil temperatures from the ground surface to the water table by as much as 15$\sp\circ$F. The actively warmed test plot was successfully heated year-round, preventing soil freezing and enhancing microbial activity. Soil gas, microbiological, and geochemical sampling data evidenced correlation between increased bioactivity and soil warming. Passively treated soils evidenced some winter increase in temperatures, although some periodic soil freezing did occur. Overall, biodegradation within both passively treated and untreated contaminated test plots was noticeably slower than within the actively warmed plot. Thermally enhanced bioventing successfully remediated hydrocarbon contamination in vadose zone soils at a subarctic site within two years. After oxygen, temperature appears to be the ...
author2 Carlson, Robert F.
format Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
author Filler, Dennis M.
author_facet Filler, Dennis M.
author_sort Filler, Dennis M.
title Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
title_short Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
title_full Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
title_fullStr Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
title_full_unstemmed Thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
title_sort thermally enhanced bioventing of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold regions
publishDate 1997
url http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9474
geographic Fairbanks
geographic_facet Fairbanks
genre Subarctic
Alaska
genre_facet Subarctic
Alaska
op_relation http://hdl.handle.net/11122/9474
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