Enhancing aquifer cleanup with reinjection

Injection of water or steam, with or without chemical surfactants, is a common petroleum industry technique to enhance product recovery. In the geothermal industry, reinjection (reinjection is used to mean the injection of ground water that was previously injected) of heat- depleted subsurface fluids is commonly used to maintain reservoir pressure, thus prolonging field productivity. The use reinjection in ground-water remediation projects allows for the application of both traditional production field management and a variety of additional enhancements to the cleanup process. Development of the ideas in this paper was stimulated by an initial suggestion by Dr. Jacob Bear (personal discussions, 1990--1991) that reinjected water might be heated to aid the desorption process.