Vacuum-enhanced pumping involves the application of negative pressure to a well point to increase the rate of flow of groundwater and soil gas into the wells. Bioslurping is related to bioventing and vacuum-enhanced pumping because it uses elements of both technologies. Bioslurping treats two separate geologic media simultaneously. Bioslurping pumps are designed to extract free-phase fuel from the water table and to aerate vadose zone soils through soil gas vapor extraction. The bioslurper system withdraws groundwater, free product, and soil gas in the same process stream using a single pump.
Free product is recovered and can be recycled.
Read this technology profile of bioslurping. This document describes recommended activities that should be conducted as part of a field treatability test for bioslurping to remove free-product hydrocarbons from the subsurface. This paper presents the results of field testing conducted under the Bioslurper Initiative. Test results using conventional and bioslurper technologies from ten sites are compared and discussed. If you have any technology development needs, comments or questions, please contact ERT .