Economic Evaluation of Air Stripping to Remove Volatile Organic Compounds from Water.

Abstract : This report documents the results of a study conducted to provide a basis for estimating the costs of installing and using air stripping to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. The air stripping technology was found to be a very economical and efficient method for contaminant removal. The technology is simple, relatively inexpensive to install, and has low labor and maintenance requirements. VOC removal rates range from 90 to 99.99 percent. Estimated costs, in terms of percentage of total production costs, were found to be 40 percent for capital costs, 50 percent for operational costs, and 10 percent for maintenance costs, according to literature sources. Results of a survey conducted during this study generally agree with these percentages, except that maintenance costs reported on the survey were lower due to the highly automated nature of new installations.