• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.421-428
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• 2002

Lab-scale experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of surface tension reduction on the extension of the influence zone and the VOC removal efficiency of ground water sparging. A glass column packed with coarse sand was used for VOC removal test at two different surface tensions. A glass column without porous media was also used fer control purpose prior to sand-packed column test. A quasi-two-dimensional glass box model, packed with a sand, was used fer sparging zone tests at different water surface tensions. Surface tension of the aquoues solution used in this study was controlled using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). For the glass, sand column experiments, total amount of air filled in the media increased as surface tension decreased. Toluene (used as VOC in this study) removal rate increased slightly with decreased surface tension f3r both free water column and sand-packed column. Air sparging zone extended up to 500% as the surface tension decreased. Combining the results from two different experiments, VOC removal efficiency is expected to increase significantly with surface tension reduction.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.23-30
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• 2008

Air sparging technique has been used for remediation of VOC(volatile organic compound)-contaminated aquifer. The aim of this study was to develop an innovative air sparging technique that enhances the efficiency of air intrusion into a specific horizontal layer of aquifer where the contaminants exist with the help of water-soluble surfactant. A twodimensional physical box model, packed with homogeneous sand, was used for simulating the aquifer in this study. Aqueous solution of anionic surfactant (100 mg/L, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate) was used to suppress the surface tension of groundwater. Three sets of experiments were conducted: air sparging experiment without surfactant application, air sparging experiments for box model where the surfactant solution was applied right above the air injection point, and air sparging experiments with surfactant solution layer formed in the middle of the box. It was found that the sparging influence zone was expanded up to five times of that formed by sparging without surfactant application. The size of sparging influence zone was more sensitive to the air flow (injection) rate with surfactant application than that without surfactant. More importantly, injection of air into the target aquifer layer was successful with surfactant application. Findings in this study are expected to provide more options for designing remediation processes using air sparging.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.76-79
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• 2005

대수층 폭기법(aquifer air sparging)은 대수층에 가압공기를 주입하여 휘발성 유기오염물질을 제거하는 지반환경복원 기술의 하나이다. 본 연구는 전통적인 지하 대수층 폭기기술 시행에 있어서 특정층에 미리 수용액상 계면활성제를 수평방향으로 도입함으로써 오염물질이 실제로 존재하는 층에 선택적으로 폭기 되도록 하여 최소한의 공기량으로 제거 효율을 극대화 하는 기술을 개발하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 본 연구에서는 균일질 모래로 충진된 2차원 상자 모델을 사용하였으며, 표면장력 조절을 위하여 저농도(100mg/L) 음이온계 계면활성제(sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate) 수용액이 사용되었다. 실험은 계면활성제가 처방되지 않은 경우, 공기도입부 근처에 계면활성제 용액이 도입된 경우, 공기도입부와 토양표면의 중간부분에 계면활성제 용액이 도입된 경우의 세 가지 방법으로 실시되었다. 실험 결과, 계면활성제가 도입된 경우는 투입되지 않은 경우에 비하여 최고 5배에 해당하는 폭기영향권의 확대가 관찰되었으며 폭기영향권이 계면활성제가 도입된 수평층을 중심으로 형성되어 이 부분에 집중되어 존재하는 오염물질의 제거에 매우 유리할 수 있다는 점이다. 대수층 도입공기의 수평확산을 유도하는 기술로 본 연구는 기존의 대수층 폭기 복원기술의 효율을 획기적으로 개선할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 2019

It is possible that radon removal in groundwater of small-scale water supply system (SWSS) is caused by atmospheric storage and aeration facilities installed in the water tank. Radon removal rates at water tank and tap of the 32 SWSS during summer season ranged from -69.3% to 62.7% (average 25.7%) and from -64.3% to 83.1% (average 30.3%) while those of 16 SWSS during autumn season ranged from 21.3% to 78.0% (average 42.8%) and from 17.7% to 66.9% (average 44.8%). The reason of higher radon removal rate in the autumn season compared with the summer season is due to higher atmospheric storage effect by lower groundwater use rate. The radon removal rates at the water tank from 12 SWSS were 47.4~94.0% (average 78.9%), in which the removal rates at the atmospheric storage are also included. Atmospheric storage and aeration can be used to reduce radon concentration in SWSS groundwater. For more efficient use of radon reduction, further studies are necessary to assess the radon removal rate considering variation conditions of radon concentration in groundwater, size and forms of water tank, change in groundwater usage rate, aeration capacity and ventilation facilities.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.87-94
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• 2009

Surfactant-enhanced air sparging (SEAS) was developed to suppress the surface tension of groundwater prior to air sparging resulting in higher air saturation and larger contact area between NAPL and gas during air sparging. Larger contacting interface between NAPL and gas means faster mass transfer of contaminants from NAPL to gas phase. This new technique, however, is limited to relatively volatile contaminants because vaporization is its basic mechanism of mass transfer. In this study, SEAS was tested at an elevated temperature for a semi-volatile n-decane, which is expected not to be a good candidate of SEAS application due to its low vapor pressure at ambient temperature. Three sparging experiments were conducted using 1-dimensional column (5 cm id, 80 cm length) packed with sand; (1) ambient temperature ($23^{\circ}C$), column saturated with distilled water, (2) SEAS at ambient temperature ($23^{\circ}C$), for n-decane contaminated sand, (3) SEAS at elevated temperature ($73^{\circ}C$), for n-decane contaminated sand. Higher air saturation was achieved by SEAS compared to that by air sparging without surfactant application. The n-decane removal efficiency of SEAS at elevated temperature was significantly higher(> 10 times) than that of ambient SEAS. The n-decane concentrations in the gas effluent from column during SEAS at $73^{\circ}C$ are found to be 10 times of those measured at ambient temperature. Thus, SEAS technique can be applied for removal of semi-volatile contaminants provided that an appropriate technique for elevating aquifer temperature is available.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.565-571
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• 2010

An innovative application of surfactant-enhanced air sparging(SEAS) technique was developed in this study. Using a laboratory-scale physical model packed with water-saturated sand, air sparging was implemented to remove water-dissolved toluene that was introduced into a specific depth of the system with finite vertical width prior to sparging. An anionic surfactant(Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate) was introduced into the contaminated layer as in dissolved form in the toluene-contaminated solution for SEAS, whereas no surfactant was applied in the control experiment. Due to the suppressed surface tension of water in the surfactant(and toluene)-containing region, the toluene removal rate increased significantly compared to those without surfactant. More than 70% of the dissolved toluene was removed from the contaminated layer for SEAS application while less than 20% of toluene was removed for the experiment without surfactant. Air intrusion into the contaminated layer during sparging was found to be more effective than that without surfactant, enhancing air contact with toluene-contaminated water, which resulted in improved volatilization of contaminant. This new method is expected to open a new option for remediation of VOC(volatile organic compound)-contaminated aquifer.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.413-416
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• 2004

매립장 침출수로 인해 오염된 매립장 주변 지하수 정화를 위한 실내실험을 실시하였다. 오염물로는 대표적 염화용제인 TCE와 PCE, 그리고 중금속인 As, Cd, Cr, Pb에 대하여 Air-sparging, 오존 산화법, 화학적 처리방법에 의한 정화효율 실험을 실시하였다. Air-sparging은 TCE, PCE에서 높은 제거효율을 가졌으며, 오존 산화법은 Cr, Pb에서 제거 효율이 좋았다. 반응제를 첨가한 공침방법의 경우, 모든 중금속에 대하여 소석회 첨가시 매우 높은 제거효율을 보였으며, As는 황산제일철에서, Cd, Cr, Pb는 탄산칼슘과 제올라이트 첨가시 높은 제거효율을 나타내었다. 실험결과로부터, 유기오염물과 중금속이 혼합되어 나타나는 매립장 주변 오염 지하수의 경우 휘발성 유기오염물의 제거를 위해서는 폭기방법이, 중금속의 경우에는 공침방법에 의해 수산화물, 탄산염으로 만들어 고형물로 처리하는 방법이 제거효과가 좋은 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.31-37
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• 2008

Diffused Aeration System (DAS) is one of the remediation methods used for removing contaminants in groundwater and this method brings air bubbles in contact with contaminated water, afterwards transferring contaminants in liquid phase into air phase. In this study, three applicability tests using DAS were conducted in two highly contaminated sites. For these tests, diffused air bubbles are generated with a in-flow rate of 17.1, 44.8 and 76.5 (1/min), respectively. The concentrations of TCE in grounwater and air phase were measured during the tests. The measured results showed that TCE concentration hit the highest value after 6~8 min and afterwards decreased gradually. Also, it was observed that the TCE concentration in air phase changed depending on the rate of diffused aeration. In addition, $K_La$ values from liquid to air phase were calculated based on the test results and those of three tests (test 1, 2 3) were 0.444, 1.158 and 1.836(1/hr), respectively. From the comparison of $K_La$ values, the faster air in-flow rate is, the higher the efficiency of the DAS is.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.65-70
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• 2009

Reduction of groundwater surface tension prior to air sparging (SEAS, surfactant-enhanced air sparging) was known to increase air saturation in the aquifer under influence, possibly enhancing the removal rates of volatile contaminants. Although SEAS was known to be efficient for increasing air saturation, little information is available for different hydrogeological settings including soil particle sizes and the depth of aquifer. We investigated water saturations in the sparging influence zone during SEAS using one-dimensional column packed with sands of different particle sizes and different aquifer depths. An anionic surfactant was used to suppress the surface tension of water. Two different sands were used; the air entry pressures of the sands were measured to be $15.0\;cmH_2O$, and $36.3\;cmH_2O$, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the water saturation-surface tension relationship for sands with different particle sizes. As the surface tension decreased, the water saturation decreased to a lowest point and then it increased with further decrease in the surface tension. Both sands reached their lowest water saturations when the surface tension was set approximately at 42 dyne/cm. SEAS was conducted at three different aquifer depths; 41 cm, 81 cm, and 160 cm. Water saturation-surface tension relationship was consistent regardless of the aquifer depth. The size of sparging influence zone during SEAS, measured using two-dimensional model, was found to be similar to the changes in air saturation, measured using one-dimensional model. Considering diverse hydrogeological settings where SEAS to be applied, the results here may provide useful information for designing SEAS process.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.52-57
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• 2013

Radon, which is one of the radioactive elements in the natural world, exists in the atmosphere and water. When this element inflows into the human body, it carries the risks of developing lung cancer and stomach cancer. Therefore, in this study, an effective 10 L scaled reactor was produced to mitigate radon in water and the radon mitigation efficiency in water following the changes in water temperature and amount of aeration were evaluated. Based on this, the radon mitigation efficiency (SRRR; Specific radon removal rate) was derived per unit air volume. According to the study result, when water temperature increased from $10^{\circ}C$ to $16^{\circ}C$, the SRRR value increased from 95 $nCi/m^3{\cdot}L$ to 134.4 $nCi/m^3{\cdot}L$, and when the amount of aeration increased from 0.2 L/min to 1 L/min, the SRRR value decreased from 198.1 $nCi/m^3{\cdot}L$ to 72.2 $nCi/m^3{\cdot}L$. Therefore, based on the experimental results, it is considered that it can be applied as a examination factor and objective indicator during the design of future radon-in-water mitigation systems.