Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE)
EPA/540/MR-03/503
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
| Demonstration Bulletin Steam
Enhanced Remediation SteamTech Environmental Services, Inc. Steam Enhanced Remediation (SER) is a process in which steam is injected into the subsurface and volatile and semivolatile contaminants are collected in the vapor phase, in the aqueous phase, and possibly as a nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL). The general approach employed is to surround the contaminated zone with steam injection wells to displace NAPLs and groundwater to centrally located extraction wells. Residual contaminants are vaporized when the heat front reaches them and collected by vacuum extraction. Steam migration is monitored using Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) and thermocouples. SteamTech Environmental Services, Inc. has successfully applied this technology for the recovery of contaminants from soils and aquifers, and at a fractured granite site at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The demonstration at the former Loring Air Force Base Quarry site was the first time that the steam injection technology was used at a contaminated site composed entirely of fractured limestone. Contact |