Hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOC) in soils and groundwater can pose significant health risks, particularly if aquifers which feed the water supplies of population centers are threatened. Current remediation methods for treatment of soil and groundwater include air stripping, vacuum extracting, carbon containment, incineration/oxidation and bioremediation.
Air stripping and vacuum extracting are dispersion technologies which extract vapors (the words vapors, VOCs and gases are generally used interchangeably throughout and, unless clearly understood otherwise, are intended to have the same meaning) from the soil and vent the contaminants to the atmosphere. While these techniques are relatively inexpensive and can prevent or reduce groundwater contamination threats, they are environmentally undesirable because they merely change the medium of the pollution (from soil to air). Venting is controversial and its use in the future is likely to be limited by stricter air quality regulations.
Carbon containment is a collection technology in which vapors from vapor extraction wells or other VOC sources are passed through carbon (or other adsorbent) filled canisters to adsorb the VOC's. Collection technologies prevent or limit groundwater contamination by reducing the contaminant level and can be cost effective for certain flowrates and contamination levels. However, containment is not a destruction technology; the VOCs collected require removal and subsequent disposal. Also, containment is not universally effective, as some VOCs have low adsorptivity.
Incineration involves high temperature burning of waste streams from soil or air-stripped ground water for destruction of VOCs. Incineration is highly controversial, often achieving only incomplete destruction, and is costly. Incomplete destruction can produce products more hazardous than the original contaminant and has the potential of releasing them to the atmosphere.
This current state-of-the-art has led to the present invention, which achieves safe and effective destruction on site for a wide variety of VOCs.