In-Situ Radio Frequency Heating for Remediation of Soil and Groundwater Contamination

Results from a field demonstration and a bench-scale study verify Radio Frequency Heating`s (RFH) ability to enhance Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) and air sparging. During the spring 1996 demonstration in Blaine, Minnesota, at the site of a former gasoline station, a remotely operated, computer-controlled RFH system was used to supply 2,300 kilowatt-hours of RF energy to soil and groundwater over a three-week period, raising temperatures and significantly increasing the removal rate of gasoline constituents (primarily benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene and xylene - BTEX) compared to the baseline (ambient temperature) removal rate. Analysis of data from a bench-scale study which compared removal rates of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) from soil by ambient temperature air flow and by RFH (90{degrees}C soil temperature) air flow also reveals a notable increase in removal rate when RFH is employed.