--> Abstract: Medium Temperature Thermal Desorption Soil Remediation Case Study--Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mt. Clemens, Michigan, by K. Flemingloss; #90984 (1994).

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Abstract: Medium Temperature Thermal Desorption Soil Remediation Case Study--Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mt. Clemens, Michigan

Keith Flemingloss

Carlo Environmental Technologies, Inc., (CET) was contracted by the Selfridge Air National Guard Base (SANG) to remove an abandoned underground storage tank (UST) farm and remediate the contaminated soil using thermal desorption technology.

The first phase of this project was to remove fourteen 25,000 gal underground storage tanks that had been installed during the 1930s, including all ancillary equipment at the facility. The USTs had been used to store aviation fuels, including both av-gas and jet fuels. The tank-removal project disclosed over 5000 yd3 of contaminated soil in the tank excavation pit, and excavation continued until analytical sampling demonstrated that the perimeter was within the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Act 307 Type B cleanup criteria (state superfund act). The contaminated soil was trucked to a remote location on the base property for the thermal remediation.

CET employed its Cedarapids 64MT thermal desorption plant to treat the contaminated soils from the tank removal site. These soils were predominantly clays, and the contamination included BTEX compounds up to 5 parts per million (ppm), and PNA compounds per l00 ppm. The medium temperature thermal desorption process, which heats the contaminated soil to approximately 850°F was successful in removing BTEX and PNA contamination from the soil (to levels below MDNR Type B cleanup criteria). The vapor stream from the desorption process was then filtered to minimize particulate emissions, and the contaminant compounds were then destroyed in the thermal oxidizer section of the process, at temperatures up to 1800°F.

The remediated soil was returned to the original excavation as clean compacted fill material. With the use of the thermal desorption technology, CET remediated the site to MDNR cleanup standards, recycled the soils from the site, and eliminated off-site disposal liability for SANG.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90984©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, East Lansing, Michigan, September 18-20, 1994