# Presentation: 022785

## Nanotechnology Applications for Remediation: Cost-Effective and Rapid Technologies; Removal of Contaminants From Soil, Ground Water; and Aqueous Environments

**Nanotechnology Applications for Remediation: Cost-Effective and Rapid Technologies; Removal of Contaminants From Soil, Ground Water; and Aqueous Environments**

- Greg Wilson
- AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow

## Presentation Outline

- EPA – Superfund Program Overview
- Other Federal Programs
- Ongoing Federal Remediation Projects
- U.S. Navy
- NASA LC34

## The Site Clean-Up Process

_**Superfund**_
**Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection **(PA/SI)
**Scoring **(HRS)**/Listing **(NPL)
**Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study **(RI/FS)
**Record of Decision **(ROD)
**Remedial Design/Remedial Action **(RD/RA)
**Operations and Maintenance **(O&M)**, includes monitoring**
**Closeout/Deletion**

_**ASTM**_
**Phase I**
**Phase II**
**Phase III**

## Site Conceptual Model

## PLUME RESPONSE

**Dissolved Plume**

**Control Plane**

**Compliance Plane**

**Dissolved Plume**

_**Partial Mass Removal:**_

**DNAPL **
**Source**
**Zone**

**Control Plane**

**Compliance Plane**

**Dissolved Plume**

_**Partial Mass Removal + Enhanced Natural Attenuation:**_

**DNAPL **
**Source**
**Zone**

**Control Plane**

**Compliance Plane**

**DNAPL **
**Source**
**Zone**

## In Situ Technologies for Source Control*

- * Includes information from an estimated 70% of FY 2002 RODs.

## Trends in the % of GW RODs Selecting In Situ Treatment (FY86- 02)*

- * Includes information from an estimated 70% of FY 2002 RODs.

## RODs Selected by Year

## Program Findings

- Fewer Records of Decision (RODs) are being signed, but these are becoming more complex with a greater mix of remedies (see drop in single media RODs for SC & GW)
- More treatment is taking place for both source control and groundwater, more of that treatment is in situ, and the trend is upward
- Since the beginning of the program, treatment has been selected for either soil or groundwater at 62% of Superfund sites
- There is a clear indication of progress in the program as measured by stage the remedies are in. More have been completed, and more are operational

## Sites May Be More Complex

- The ASR reports that number of RODs in 2001 and 2002 was about one-third less than the 1988-2000 average. The following help understand why this may be:
- There is a greater proportion of RODs addressing _**both**_ soil and groundwater, an indication of the complexity of contamination at sites on the NPL still requiring RODs.
- There are more combinations of remedies in Groundwater Records of Decision. Previous GW RODs  often contained a single remedy (mostly P&T).
- More in-situ treatment is taking place, for both soil and GW. In situ treatment remedies typically address technically complex contamination problems

## Future Remediation Market in the U.S.(From Cleaning Up the Nation’s Waste Sites:  Markets and Technology Trends,  EPA-542-R-96-005)

**Program****	****	****	****# of Sites****	****	****Approximate Cost   ****	****	****	****	****	****                  ****(in billions)**
- Superfund 			550 				7
- RCRA Corrective Action	3,000 				39
- USTs 				165,000	 			21
- Dept. of Defense** ****	****	**8,300 (at 1,560 installations)** ****	****29**
- Dept. of Energy**	****	****	**10,500 (at 137 installations)** ****	****63 ****	**
- Other Federal 	**	****	**700 installations**	****  ****	****15**
- States  				29,000				_13_
- 							 		187

## Florida DEP’s Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Program

- Success over 21⁄2 years
- 10 contractors
- 156 assessments completed
- 100 cleanups underway
- Information on state drycleaning efforts:
- State Coalition for Remediation of Drycleaners, _[http://](http://www.drycleancoalition.org/)__[www.drycleancoalition.org](http://www.drycleancoalition.org/)__[/](http://www.drycleancoalition.org/)_
- Interstate Technology Regulatory Council (ITRC)
- http://www.itrcweb.org

## Superfund Databases

- Clu-in
- Web seminars
- Reach it (www.epareachit.org)
- 2,000 - 4,000 visits/month
- Most frequent searches by contaminant and media
- Heavy metals, BTEX, chlorinated VOCs, PCBs
- Most frequent technologies searched
- Chem Redox
- Bioremediation- gw (in situ)
- Solidification/stabilization
- Phytoremediation

## Federal Partners

- National Institutes of Environmental Health and Science – Superfund Basic Research Program
- NASA
- Department of Energy
- Department of Defense
- Navy
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Air Force (AFCEE)
- SERDP

## Federal Agency Cost and Performance Points of Contact

| Organization | Point of Contact |
| --- | --- |
| Army AEC | Layne Young |
| USACE | Greg Mellema |
| Navy | Charles Reeter/Joey Trotsky |
| Air Force | Erica Becvar |
| ESTCP | Andrea Leeson |
| DOE | Skip Chamberlain |
| EPA | Kelly Madalinski |
| NASA | Mark Schoppet |

## Nanoscale Research in DOE Office of Science

- Major source of funding for nanoscale research in DOE SC
- Supporting construction of 5 Nanoscale Research Centers
- Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Supports bio/environmental research, some of which has nano-components

## Nanoscale Science Research Centers

- Supported by Office of Basic Energy Sciences
- Supports the National Nanotechnology Initiative
- Five new Nanoscale Science Research Centers (_[NSRCs](http://www.science.doe.gov/bes/NNI.htm)__) to support the synthesis, processing, fabrication, and analysis of materials at the nanoscale_
- Premier user centers for interdisciplinary research at the nanoscale
- Provide a gateway to existing major BES user facilities for X-ray, neutron, or electron scattering
- NSRCs will contain clean rooms; laboratories for nanofabrication and one-of-a-kind signature instruments

## Nanoscale Science Research Centers(under design or construction)

- Nanoscale Science Research Centers(under design or construction)

- _[Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences](http://www.cnms.ornl.gov/)__ (ORNL)_
- 	Integrate nanoscale science research with neutron science, synthesis science, and theory/modeling/simulation to address nano-dimensioned soft materials, complex nanophase materials systems, and the crosscutting areas of interfaces and reduced dimensionality that become scientifically critical on the nanoscale.  Utilize ORNL’s unique capabilities in neutron scattering.
- _[Molecular Foundry](http://foundry.lbl.gov/)__ (LBNL)_
- 	Provide laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, and molecular biology
- _[Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies](http://cint.lanl.gov/)__ (LANL & SNL)_
- 	Focus on the path from scientific discovery to the integration of nanostructures into the micro- and macro-worlds
- _[Center for Functional Nanomaterials](http://www.bnl.gov/nanocenter/)__ (LBNL)_
- 	Investigate chemical and physical response of nanomaterials to make functional materials such as sensors, activators, and energy-conversion devices using existing facilities such as the National Synchrotron Light Source and the Laser Electron Accelerator facility
- _[Center for Nanoscale Materials](http://nano.anl.gov/)__ (ANL)_
- Conduct research in advanced magnetic materials, complex oxides, nanophotonics, and bio-inorganic hybrids. An x-ray nanoprobe beam line at the Advanced Photon Source will be fabricated and run by the Center for use by its users. The facility will use existing facilities such as the Advanced Photon Source, the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source, and the Electron Microscopy Center

## Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable

- http://www.frtr.gov
- June 9, 2004

## Nanoscale Particle Treatment of Groundwater- Naval Air Engineering Station - Lakehurst, NJ

- Source Area Treatment with Nanoscale Particles- Naval Air Station - Jacksonville, FL

- Micro-Scale ZVI Treatment of Groundwater- Hunter’s Point Shipyard - San Francisco, CA

**U.S. Navy - Naval Facilities Engineering Command**

## NAES Lakehurst

- Used 20 lbs nanoFe/1200 gal water in each of 15 Geoprobe injection points
- Solution injected over a 20-foot interval (50’-70’), in equal 2-ft lifts
- Used GW from nearby extraction well
- A total of 300 lbs NanoFe injected
- TCE levels reduced up to 50% in single injection – additional injection anticipated
- NanoFe = nanoscale iron with a Pd0 coating (catalyst)
- 1.7 lbs Palladium used in Phase I; 3.75 lbs used in Phase II

## NAS Jacksonville

- Nanoscale Iron
- Food grade Polymer Supported w/Palladium Catalyst
- Purchased from PARS Environmental
- CVOC mass estimated: 40 to 125 lbs
- 300 lbs of iron was injected
- Costs for the nanoscale iron has dropped 2 times

## NAS Jacksonville

- Two injection methods:
- Strategic DPT injections
- Recirculation Process
- More work is yet to be done:
- Groundwater sampling for 3 remaining quarters
- Confirmation soil sampling
- Cost estimates
- Current is $300-350/yd3
- Excavation estimated to be $400-500/yd3
- Estimate with less sampling and lower iron costs is $215-265/yd3

## Hunter’s Point Location and Site Conditions

-  Remedial Unit C4
-  Pnuematic fracturing to inject micro-scale ZVI
-  Soil type = 10ft layer of artificial fill over fractured bedrock
-  Targeted depth is 7ft bgs to 32 ft bgs
-  Water table is 7 ft bgs
-  TCE present in GW up to 88 mg/l
-  Removed 99.1% of total chlorinated solvents

- Hunter’s Point
- Shipyard

## Hunter’s Point - Pre-ZVI Injection

## Hunter’s Point - Post-ZVI Injection

## Hunter’s Point - Results

- TCE in groundwater was reduced 99.2% in 3 weeks
- Project cost estimate was $117/yd3
- Plume displacement not significant
- ROI ranges from about 15 to 20 feet
- Applied to additional sites
- Evaluating applicability to other sites

## Properties of EZVI

- CVOCs in DNAPL diffuse through the oil membrane and undergo reductive dechlorination in the presence of the ZVI in the interior aqueous phase.
- In addition to abiotic degradation due to ZVI, EZVI contains vegetable oil and surfactant which will act as long-term electron donors and promotes anaerobic biodegradation.

- Iron

- Surfactant

- Water

- Oil

## NASA - Results of Demo at LC34

- Soil Core Samples:
- Stated objective of 50% removal of total TCE
- Significant reduction of TCE (>80%) where EZVI was present
- Average reduction of 58%
- EZVI migrates to shallow intervals

- EZVI in 1- to 3-inch thick stringer

## NASA - Results of Demo at LC34

- Groundwater Samples:
- Significant reduction (60 to 100%) of TCE in target depths.
- Reduction of 56% in the Mass Flux.
- from 19.2 mmoles/ft2/day  down to 8.5 mmoles/ft2/day
- 18 months after injection groundwater concentrations indicate that long term degradation due to bioremediation ongoing

## Results at LC34

- Results at LC34

- Elevated cis-1,2-DCE, VC suggest biodegradation due to oil as an electron donor may also be significant
- Bioaugmentation may enhance complete degradation associated with biological component of process

## Injection Techniques Field-tested at LC34-2004

- Pressure Pulsing
- Pneumatic injection of EZVI in sandy soils looks promising.  Able to disperse EZVI evenly and at target depths.
- Further testing using pneumatic injection concludes that micro-scale iron may be injected into sandy formations without emulsion deformation and a sufficient ROI is achievable.  Saves $$$$
- Pneumatic Fracturing
- Hydraulic Fracturing
- Hydraulic fracturing of EZVI does not deform emulsion droplets.  May have application in consolidated sediments or where tighter lithologies prevail
- Direct Injection
- Direct push has application to small sites where a direct push rig can install a bunch of “columns” of EZVI in a single day, making it very cost competitive over injection technologies that seek larger ROIs.