Mobility control: How injected surfactants and biostimulants may be forced into low‐permeability units

Jackson, Richard E.; Dwarakanath, Varadarajan; Meinardus, Hans W.; Young, C.

doi:10.1002/rem.10074

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(8 reference statements)

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“…In recent work, shear-thinning polymers have been introduced to the remediation of groundwater contamination [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36], which is a mobility control method used in the petroleum industry. By the addition of polymer, the viscosity of the displacing fluid increases, and the mobility of the fluid within the hpzs decreases, which promotes enhanced transverse fluid movement of fluids into adjacent lpzs and minimizes the effects of the aquifer heterogeneities [28,32,37]. However, most of the research has focused on the coupling of polymer-water or polymer-surfactant-based remediation approaches [26,27,29,30,35,36], and the coupling of chemical oxidants and polymers remains less extensively considered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Rheological Behavior of Polymer–Oxidant Mixtures and the Influence of the Groundwater Environment on Their Properties

Chen

Song

2019

Water

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Shear-thinning polymers have been introduced to contaminant remediation in the subsurface as a mobility control method applied to mitigate the inefficient delivery of remedial agents caused by geological heterogeneity. Laboratory experiments have been conducted to assess the compatibility of polymers (xanthan and hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM)) and oxidants (KMnO4 and Na2S2O8) through quantitative evaluation of the viscosity maintenance, shear-thinning performance, and oxidant consumption. The mechanism that causes viscosity loss and the influence of the groundwater environment on the mixture viscosity were also explored. The xanthan–KMnO4 mixture exhibited the best performance in both viscosity retention and shear-thinning behavior with retention rates higher than 75% and 73.5%, respectively. Furthermore, the results indicated that xanthan gum has a high resistance to MnO4− and that K+ plays a leading role in its viscosity reduction, while HPAM is much more sensitive to MnO4−. The viscosity responses of the two polymers to Na2S2O8 and NaCl were almost consistent with that of KMnO4; salt ions displayed an instantaneous effect on the solution’s viscosity, while the oxide ions could cause the solution’s viscosity to decrease continuously with time. Since xanthan exhibited acceptable oxidant consumption as well, xanthan–KMnO4 is considered to be the optimal combination. In addition, the results implied that the effects of salt ions and the water pH on the mixture solution could be acceptable. In the 2D tank test, it was found that when xanthan gum was introduced, the sweeping efficiency of the oxidant in the low-permeability zone was increased from 28.2% to 100%. These findings demonstrated the feasibility of using a xanthan–KMnO4 mixture for actual site remediation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of the Rheological Behavior of Polymer–Oxidant Mixtures and the Influence of the Groundwater Environment on Their Properties

Chen

Song

2019

Water

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“…increased resistance to flow) within more permeable strata promotes enhanced transverse fluid movement (i.e. cross-flow) into adjacent lower permeability strata, mitigating preferential flow and bypassing of lower permeability strata that often limits the effectiveness of remedial treatments (Jackson et al, 2003). The net result is a more uniform fluid propagation front during injection operations and improved distribution of that fluid within heterogeneous formations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field demonstration of polymer-amended in situ chemical oxidation (PA-ISCO)

Silva¹,

Crimi

Palaia

et al. 2017

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology

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The methods and results of the first field-scale demonstration of polymer-amended in situ chemical oxidation (PA-ISCO) are presented. The demonstration took place at MCB CAMLEJ (Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune) Operable Unit (OU) 15, Site 88, in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina between October and December 2010. PA-ISCO was developed as an alternative treatment approach that utilizes viscosity-modified fluids to improve the in situ delivery and distribution (i.e. sweep-efficiency) of chemical oxidants within texturally heterogeneous contaminated aquifers. The enhanced viscosity of the fluid mitigates the effects of preferential flows, improving sweep-efficiency and enhancing the subsurface contact between the injected oxidant and the target contamination within the treatment zone. The PA-ISCO fluid formulation used in this demonstration included sodium permanganate as oxidant, xanthan gum biopolymer as a shear-thinning viscosifier, and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) as an anti-coagulant. It was the goal of this demonstration to validate the utility of PA-ISCO within a heterogeneous aquifer. An approximate 100% improvement in sweep-efficiency was achieved for the PA-ISCO fluid, as compared to a permanganate-only injection within an adjacent control plot.

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“…Prior flows are easily formed when contaminants flow by the highly permeable zones, whereas bypass flows are generated when contaminants flow through the low permeability zones. Herein, both phenomena may lead to the incomplete contact between contaminants and fillings in the PRB reaction zone [33][34][35]. In addition, after the reduction in the concentration of contaminants in highly permeable zones, under the force of concentration gradient, contaminants in low permeability zones are continuously released into highly permeable zones, increasing pollution and the cost of remediation [36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Fe-Cu/Biochar System for Chlorobenzene Remediation of Groundwater in Inhomogeneous Aquifers

Zhang

Zhao

et al. 2017

Water

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Chlorobenzene (CB), as a typical Volatile Organic Contaminants (VOC), is toxic, highly persistent and easily migrates in water, posing a significant risk to human health and subsurface ecosystems. Therefore, exploring effective approaches to remediate groundwater contaminated by CB is essential. As an enhanced micro-electrolysis system for CB-contaminated groundwater remediation, this study attempted to couple the iron-copper bimetal with biochar. Two series of columns using sands with different grain diameters were used, consisting of iron, copper and biochar fillings as the permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), to simulate the remediation of CB-contaminated groundwater in homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers. Regardless of the presence of homogeneous or heterogeneous porous media, the CB concentrations in the effluent from the PRB columns were significantly lower than the natural sandy columns, suggesting that the iron and copper powders coupled with biochar particles could have a significant removal effect compared to the natural sand porous media in the first columns. CB was transported relatively quickly in the heterogeneous porous media, likely due to the fact that the contaminant residence time is proportional to the infiltration velocities in the different types of porous media. The average effluent CB concentrations from the heterogeneous porous media were lower than those from homogeneous porous media. The heterogeneity retarded the vertical infiltration of CB, leading to its extended lateral distribution. During the treatment process, benzene and phenol were observed as the products of CB degradation. The ultimate CB removal efficiency was 61.4% and 68.1%, demonstrating that the simulated PRB system with the mixture of iron, copper and biochar was effective at removing CB from homogeneous and heterogeneous aquifers.

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Mobility control: How injected surfactants and biostimulants may be forced into low‐permeability units

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Assessment of the Rheological Behavior of Polymer–Oxidant Mixtures and the Influence of the Groundwater Environment on Their Properties

Assessment of the Rheological Behavior of Polymer–Oxidant Mixtures and the Influence of the Groundwater Environment on Their Properties

Field demonstration of polymer-amended in situ chemical oxidation (PA-ISCO)

Application of Fe-Cu/Biochar System for Chlorobenzene Remediation of Groundwater in Inhomogeneous Aquifers

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