United States
 Environmental Protection
 Agency
EPA/540/S5-89/003
May 1389
SUPERFUND INNOVATIVE
TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION
 Technology  Demonstration
 Summary

 Terra  Vac In  Situ  Vacuum
 Extraction System
 Groveland,  Massachusetts
  Terra Vac Inc's vacuum extraction
system  was demonstrated  at the
Valley  Manufactured  Products
Company, Inc.,  site  in Groveland,
Massachusetts. The property is part
of the Groveland  Wells Superfund
site and  is contaminated mainly by
trichloroethylene  (TCE). Vacuum
extraction entails  removal  and
venting of volatile organic constit-
uents (VOCs) such as TCE from the
vadose or unsaturated zone in the
ground by use of extraction wells and
vacuum pumps.  The  process of re-
moving VOCs from the vadose zone
using vacuum Is a patented process.
  The eight-week test run  produced
the following results:

• extraction of 1,300 Ib of VOCs
• a steady decline in the VOC
  recovery rate with time

• a marked reduction in  soil  VOC
  concentration in the test area

• an indication that the process can
  remove VOCs from clay strata

  This Summary was developed by
EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering
Laboratory, Cincinnati,  OH, to
announce key findings  of the  SITE
 program  demonstration that is fully
 documented in two  separate reports
 of the same  title (see ordering
 information at back).


 Introduction
   Environmental  regulations enacted in
 1984 (and recent amendments to the
 Superfund  program) discourage the
 continued use of landfilling of wastes in
 favor of remedial methods that will treat
 or destroy the wastes. The Superfund
 program  now requires  that, to the
 maximum extent practicable, cleanups at
 Superfund sites must employ permanent
 solutions to the waste problem.
   The Superfund Innovative Technology
 Evaluation (SITE) program is one major
 response to the challenge of finding safe
 ways to deal with waste sites. Part of the
 program  includes carefully planned
 demonstration  projects at  certain
 Superfund  sites to  test new waste
 treatment  technologies. These new
 alternative technologies  will destroy,
 stabilize, or treat hazardous wastes by
 changing  their chemical,  biological, or
 physical characteristics.
   Under the SITE program, which is
 sponsored jointly by the USEPA Office of
 Research and Development (ORD) and
 the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency

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Response (OSWER), the USEPA selects
10 or 12  Superfund sites  each year at
which pilot studies  of promising
technologies can be conducted. Sites are
chosen to match the effectiveness and
applicability  of  a particular technology
with  specific waste  types and local
conditions. The pilot studies are carefully
monitored by the USEPA. Monitoring and
data  collection  determines how
effectively the  technology  treats  the
wast©,  how  cost-effectively  the
technology compares  with  more
traditional approaches, and  that  the
operation  can  be conducted  within  all
public  health  and  environmental
guidelines.
  The Groveland Wells site was selected
for  such  a  demonstration project  for
1987. The  site  is  the location of  a
machine shop, the Valley  Manufactured
Products  Company,  Inc., which employs
approximately  25  people and
manufactures, among other things, parts
for valves. The  company  has been in
business  at  the  site since 1964. As  an
integral part of its building-wide operation
of screw  machines,  the company has
used  different types of cutting oils and
degreasing  solvents, mainly trichloro-
ethylene,  tetrachloroethylene,  trans-1,2-
dichloroelhylene, and methylene chloride.
  The contamination beneath the shop
apparently is caused by a leaking storage
tank and by  former improper practices in
the storage  and handling  of waste  oils
and solvents. The contamination plume is
moving in  a northeasterly direction
towards and into the Mill Pond.
  The USEPA has  been involved since
1983, when the Groveland Wells site was
finalized on  the National Priorities List.
The initial Remedial Investigation (Rl) of
the Valley property was carried  out  by
the responsible party  (RP),  Valley
Manufactured Products Company, Inc. A
supplemental Rl  was  conducted   by
Valley in the  fall/winter  of  1987  to
determine more completely the  full
nature of contamination at the Valley site.
A source  control Feasibility Study was
performed by USEPA to evaluate various
methods for cleaning up or controlling the
remaining contaminants. A Record of De-
cision (ROD) for the site was signed in
October 1988 calling for vacuum extrac-
tion and groundwater stripping.
  The Terra Vac system is being utilized
in many locations across the nation. This
report is  based on monitoring the Terra
Vac patented vacuum extraction process
(U.S.  Patent Nos. 4593760  and 4660639)
at the Groveland Wells site during a four-
and-one-half-month field operation
period,  with emphasis  on  a  56-day
 demonstration  test  active  treatment
 period. The  report interprets results  of
 analyses performed  on  samples  and
 establishes reliable cost and performance
 data in order to evaluate the technology's
 applicability to other sites.


   The main  objectives of this  project
 were:

 • The quantification of the contaminants
   removed by the process.

 • The correlation of the recovery rate of
   contaminants with time.

 • The  prediction  of operating  time
   required  before   achieving   site
   remediation.

 • The effectiveness  of the  process  in
   removing  contamination from different
   soil strata.


 Approach
   The objectives of  the project  were
 achieved by following a  demonstration
 test plan, which included a sampling and
 analytical plan.  The sampling  and
 analytical plan  contained  a quality
 assurance  project  plan. This QAPP
 assured  that the data collected during the
 course  of  this,  project  would be  of
 adequate quality to  support  the ob-
 jectives.
   The sampling and  analytical program
 for the test  was  split  up  into a pretest
 period,   which  has  been  called  a
 pretreatment period,  an  active  period,
 midtreatment, and a  posttreatment per-
 iod.
   The pretreatment  period  sampling
 program consisted of:

 • soil  boring samples taken  with  split
   spoons

 • soil  boring samples taken  with Shelby
   tubes

 • soil  gas samples taken with punch bar
   probes

   Soil borings  taken by split spoon
 sampling were  analyzed for volatile
 organic compounds  (VOCs)  using
, headspace  screening techniques, purge
 and trap, GC/MS procedures,  and  the
 EPA-TCLP  procedure. Additional
 properties of the soil were determined by
 sampling using a Shelby tube, which was
 pressed hydraulically  into the soil  by a
 drill rig to a total  depth of 24 feet. These
 Shelby tube samples  were  analyzed to
 determine physical characteristics of the
subsurface stratigraphy such as  bulk
density, particle  density, porosity, pH,
grain size, and  moisture. These param-
eters were used  to define the basic soil
characteristics.
  Shallow  soil gas concentrations were
collected during  pre-, mid-, and  post-
treatment activities. Four  shallow vacuum
monitoring  wells and  twelve  shallow
punch  bar tubes  were  used at sample
locations. The punch bar samples  were
collected from  hollow   stainless  steel
probes that had been driven to a depth of
3 to 5  feet. Soil gas was drawn up the
punch  bar probes  with a  low-volume
personal pump  and tygon  tubing.  Gas-
tight 50-ml syringes were used  to collect
the sample out of the tygon tubing.
  The  active  treatment period consisted
of collecting samples of:


• wellhead gas

• separator outlet gas

• primary carbon outlet gas

• secondary carbon outlet gas

• separator drain water


  All samples with the exception of the
separator drain water were analyzed on
site. On-site  gas  analysis  consisted  of
gas chromatography  with  a flame
ionization detector (FID) or an  electron
capture detector  (ECD). The  FID was
used  generally  to   quantify  the
trichloroethylene  (TCE)  and trans 1,2-
dichloroethylene (DCE) values,  while the
ECD was  used  to quantify the  1,1,1-
trichloroethane  (TRI)  and  the  tetra-
chloroethylene (PCE) values.
  The  separator drain  water  was
analyzed for VOC content using SW846
8010. Moisture content  of the  separator
inlet gas from the wells was  analyzed
using  EPA Modified  Method  4.  This
method is good  for the two-phase flow
regime that existed in the gas emanating
from the wellhead. See Table  1  for a
listing of analytical methods applied.
  The posttreatment sampling essentially
consisted of repeating pretreatment sam-
pling procedures at locations as close as
possible to the  pretreatment  sampling
locations.
  The  activated  carbon  canisters were
sampled, as  close to the center of the
canister as possible, and these  samples
were analyzed  for VOC content as a
check  on  the material  balance for the
process. The  method used was P&CAM
127, which consisted of desorption of the
carbon with  CSa and subsequent gas
chromatographic analysis.

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Table 1. Analytical Methods
Parameter
Grain size
pH
Moisture (110° C)
Particle density
Oil and grease
EPA-TCLP

TOG
Headspace VOC
VOC
VOC
VOC
VOC
VOC
VOC
Analytical Method
ASTM D422-63
SW846* 9040
ASTM D2216-80
ASTM 0696-78
SW846" 9071
F. R. 11/7/86, Vol. 51,
No. 216, SW846"8240
SW846" 9060
SW846"3810
GC/FID or ECD
GC/FID or ECD
SW846"8010
SW846"8010
Modified P&CAM 127
SW846* 8240
Sample Source
Soil borings
Soil borings
Soil borings
Soil borings
Soil borings
Soil borings

Soil borings
Soil borings
Soil gas
Process gas
Separator liquid
Groundwater
Activated carbon
Soil borings
"Third Edition, November 1986.
 Process Description
  The vacuum extraction  process  is a
 technique for the removal and venting of
 volatile organic constituents (VOCs)  from
 the vadose or unsaturated zone of soils.
 Once a contaminated area is completely
 defined,  an extraction well or wells, de-
 pending  upon the extent  of  contamina-
 tion, will be installed. A vacuum system
 induces air flow through the soil, stripping
 and  volatilizing the VOCs from the  soil
 matrix into the air stream. Liquid water is
 generally extracted as well along with the
 contamination.  The  two-phase flow  of
 contaminated air and water  flows to a
 vapor liquid  separator  where contam-
 inated water is  removed.  The contam-
 inated air stream  then  flows through
 activated carbon canisters arranged  in a
 parallel-series  fashion. Primary or main
 adsorbing canisters  are followed by a
 secondary or backup adsorber in order to
 ensure that no contamination reaches the
 atmosphere.

 Equipment Layout and
 Specifications
  The equipment layout  is  shown  in
 Figure 1, and specifications are given in
 Table 2  for the equipment used  in  the
 initial phase of the demonstration.  This
 equipment was  later modified  when
 unforeseen  circumstances  required a
 shutdown of the system. The vapor-liquid
 separator, activated carbon canisters, and
 vacuum  pump  skid  were  inside  the
 building,  with the stack discharge outside
the  building. The equipment  was in an
area  of the machine shop  where used
cutting oils and metal shavings had been
stored.
  Four extraction wells (EW1 - EW4) and
four monitoring wells (MW1 - MW4) were
drilled south of the shop.  Each  well was
installed in two  sections, one section  to
just above the clay lens and one section
to just below the clay lens. The extraction
wells were screened above the  clay and
below the  clay. As  shown in Figure 2, the
well section below the  clay lens  was
isolated from  the  section  above  by  a
bentonite  Portland  cement  grout  seal.
Each section operated independently  of
the other.  The wells were arranged in a
triangular  configuration,  with three  wells
on  the base of the triangle (EW2,  EW3,
EW4) and one well at the apex (EW1).
The three  wells on the base were called
barrier wells: Their  purpose  was  to
intercept contamination,  from underneath
the  building  and  to  the side of the
demonstration  area, before this  contam-
ination reached the main extraction well
(EW1). The area enclosed by  the  four
extraction  wells  defined  the area to be
cleaned.


Installation of Equipment
  Well drilling and equipment setup were
begun on  December 1,  1987. A mobile
drill rig was brought in and equipped with
hollow-stem  augers, split spoons,  and
Shelby  tubes.  The  locations  of the
extraction  wells and monitoring wells had
been  staked out based  on contaminant
concentration  profiles  from a previously
 conducted  remedial investigation  and
 from  bar punch  probe soil  gas moni-
 toring.
   Each well drilled was sampled at 2-foot
 intervals with a split spoon pounded into
 the subsurface by the drill rig in advance
 of the  hollow stem auger.  The  hollow
 stem  auger would then clear out the soil
 down to the depth of the split spoon, and
 the cycle would  continue in  that manner
 to a depth of 24 feet. The drilling tailings
 were  shoveled into 55-gallon drums for
 eventual disposal. After the holes were
 sampled, the wells were installed using 2-
 inch  PVC pipes screened at various
 depths  depending  upon  the character-
 istics  of the soil in the particular hole. The
 deep  well  was installed  first,  screened
 from  the  bottom to various  depths.  A
 layer  of sand followed  by a  layer of
 bentonite and finally a thick layer of grout
 were  required to  seal off the section
 below the  clay  lens from the section
 above the  clay  lens. The grout was
 allowed  to  set  overnight  before  the
 shallow well pipe was installed at the top
 of the grout. A layer of  sand bentonite
 and grout finished the installation.

 VOC Removal From the Vadose
 Zone
  The permeable vadose zone at  the
 Groveland site is divided  into two  layers
 by  a  horizontal  clay lens, which is
 relatively  impermeable.  As  explained
 previously,  each extraction well had  a
 separate shallow  and  deep section to
enable VOCs to  be  extracted from  that

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                                     A/
                                           Secondary
                                           Activated
                                            Carbon
                                            Canister
                             Tank
                             Truck
                                                                  Dwells
                                                            Vapor-Liquid
                                                              Separator
                                                   \EW1
                                                    Main Extraction
                                                         Well
                                                                         Primary
                                                                        Activated
                                                                         Carbon
                                                                        Canisters
                                                                                                 Barrier
                                                                                                  Wells
                                                                                                     Monitoring
                                                                                                       Well
                                                             Monitoring
                                                                Well
                                                             MW1
                                                            MW4
Flgurs 1. Schematic diagram of equipment layout.
Table 2.  Equipment List

       Equipment
 Number Required
            Description
 Extraction wells
 Monitoring wells
 Vapor~llqu!d separator
 Activated carbon
  canisters

 Vacuum unit

 Holding tank
 Pump
4 (2 sections each)
4 (2 sections each)
        1
Primary: 2 units in
 parallel
Secondary: 1 unit
2" SCH 40 PVC 24' total depth

2" SCH 40 PVC 24' total depth

1000-gal capacity, steel

Canisters with 1200 Ib of carbon In
 each canister - 304 SS
4" inlet and outlet nozzles

Terra Vac Recovery Unit - Model PR17
 (25 HP Motor)

2000-gal capacity - steel
1 HP motor - centrifugal

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                                                      2" PVC Pipe





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rr

—


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^








^ — Bentonite
*2-t 	 Sand
3
12.67'
•« 	 Grout
^2^-— Bentonite
•* 	 Sand
79'
24'
                      Figure 2. Schematic diagram of an extraction well.
area of the vadose zone above and below
the clay lens. The quantification of VOCs
removed was achieved by measuring
• gas volumetric flow rate by rotameter
  and wellhead gas  VOC concentration
  by gas chromatography

• the amount of VOCs adsorbed by the
  activated  carbon  canisters  by
  desorption into  CS2 followed by  gas
  chromatography.

  VOC flow rates  were measured  and
tabulated for  each  well  section
separately. The results of gas sampling
by  syringe  and  gas chromatographic
analysis indicate a total  of 1,297 Ib of
VOCs were extracted over a 56-day  per-
iod, 95% of which was trichloroethylene.
A very  good check  on  this  total  was
made by  the  activated  carbon VOC
analysis, the results of which indicated a
VOC  recovery of 1353  Ib; virtually  the
same result was  obtained by  two very
different methods.
  The  soil  gas results  show a  con-
siderable reduction in concentration over
the course of the 56-day demonstration
period  as can be seen from Figures 3
and 4.  This  is to be expected since soil
gas is the vapor halo existing around the
contamination and  should be  relatively
easy to remove by vacuum methods.
   A more modest reduction can be seen
in the  results  obtained  for  soil  VOC
concentrations by GC/MS purge-and-trap
analytical techniques. Soil concentrations
include not only the vapor halo  but also
interstitial liquid contamination that is
either dissolved  in the moisture in the soil
or exists  as a two-phase liquid  with the
moisture.
  Table 3  shows the reduction of the
weighted  average TCE  levels in the soil
during  the  course  of the   56-day
demonstration  test.  The weighted
average  TCE level  was obtained  by
averaging soil concentrations  obtained
every two feet  by split spoon  sampling
methods  over the entire 24-foot  depth of
the wells. The  largest  reduction in  soil
TCE concentration occurred in extraction
well 4, which had the highest initial level
of contamination. Extraction well 1, which
was  expected to  have  the greatest
concentration  reduction  potential,
exhibited only a minor decrease over the
course of the test. Undoubtedly this was
because of  the  greater-than-expected
level of contamination that existed in the
area around  monitoring well  3 that was
drawn into the soil around extraction well
1.  The decrease in the TCE level around
monitoring well 3 tends to bear this out.
Effectiveness of the
Technology in Various Soil
Types
  The soil  strata at the Groveland  site
can be  characterized generally  as con-
sisting of the following types in  order of
increasing depth to groundwater:

• medium to very fine silty sands
• stiff and wet clays
• sand and gravel

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                                      VMW2
                                                          EW2
                                                                                               EW4
                                                                                               003
                       8
                      Figure 3. Pretreatment shallow soil gas concentration.
  Soil porosity, which is the percentage
of total  soil volume  occupied by pores,
was relatively the same for both the clays
and the  sands.  Typically porosity,  over
the 24-foot depth of the  wells, would
range between 40%  and 50%. Perme-
abilities,  or more  accurately hydraulic
conductivities, ranged from  10-4 cm/sec
for the sands to 10-8 cm/sec for the clays
with  corresponding grain sizes equal to
10-' mm to 10-3 mm.
  Pretest soil boring  analyses indicated
in general that most of the contamination
was in the strata above the clay lens, with
a considerable quantity perched on top of
the clay lens. This was the case for ex-
traction  well 4, which showed an excel-
lent reduction of TCE concentration in the
medium to fine  sandy  soils  existing
above the clay  layer,  with  no TCE
detected in the clay in either the  pretest
or posttest borings (see Table 4).  One of
the wells,  however,  was an exception.
This was  monitoring well 3,  which  con-
tained the highest contamination levels of
any of the wells, and  was exceptional in
that most of the contamination  was in  a
wet   clay stratum.  The  levels  of
contamination  were in the  200 to 1600
ppm range before the test. After the test,
analyses of the soil boring adjacent to
monitoring well 3  showed  levels in  the
range of ND-60 ppm in the  same  clay
stratum. The  data  suggest that the
technology  can  desorb  or  otherwise
mobilize VOCs out of certain clays  (see
Table 5).
  From  the results of this demonstration
it appears that the permeability of a soil
need  not be  a  consideration in applying
the vacuum  extraction technology.  This
may be explained by the fact that the
porosities  were approximately the same
for  all soil strata, so that the total  flow
area for stripping  air  was the  same in  all
soil strata.  It will  take a long time for a
liquid contaminant to percolate  through
clay  with  its  small  pore  size  and

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                                                     EW2
                                                                       EW3
                                                                                             EW4
                                                                           Map View
                                                         VMW3
                                 VMW2
                                                                          VMW4
                    Figure 4. Posttreatment shallow soil gas concentration.
consequent low  permeability. However,
the much smaller air molecules  have a
lower resistance  in passing through the
same pores.  This  may  explain  why
contamination was generally not  present
in  the clay strata but when it was, it was
not difficult to remove.  Further  testing
should be done in order to confirm this
finding.

Correlation of Declining VOC
Recovery Rates
  The  vacuum  extraction of  volatile
organic constituents from the soil may  be
viewed as  an unsteady  state  process
taking place  in  a  nonhomogeneous
environment acted upon by the combined
convective forces of induced stripping air
and by the vacuum induced volatilization
and diffusion of volatiles from a dissolved
or sorbed state. As such it is a very com-
plicated  process,  even though  the
equipment required to  operate  the
process is very simple.

  Unsteady state  diffusion processes in
general correlate  well  by  plotting  the
logarithm of the rate  of diffusion versus
time. Although the representation of the
vacuum extraction  process  presented
here might be somewhat simplistic, the
correlation  obtained by  plotting  the
logarithm  of the   concentration  of
co'ntaminant in the wellhead gas versus
time and obtaining a least squares best fit
line was reasonably  good. This type of
plot, shown  in Figure 5, represents the
data very well and is more valid than both
a  linear   graph  or  one  plotting
concentration versus log  time, in which a
best fit curve would actually predict gas
concentrations of zero or  less.

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Tabla 3. Reduction of Weighted Average TCE Levels in Soil (TCE Cone.
Extraction Well Pretreatment
1 33.98
2 3.38
3 6.89
4 96.10
Monitoring Well
1 1.10
2 14.75
3 227.31
4 0.87
Posttreatment
29.31
2.36
6.30
4.19

0.34
8.98
84.50
1.05
in mg/kg)
% Reduction
13.74
30.18
8.56
95.64

69.09
39.12
62.83
--
Tabls 4. Extraction Well 4-TCE Reduction in Soil Strata
Depth
ft Description of Strata
0-2 Med. sand wlgravel
2-4 Lt. brown fine sand
4-6 Med. stiff It. brown fine sand
6-8 Soft dk. brown fine sand
8-10 Med. stiff brown sand
10-12 V stiff It. brown med. sand
12-14 V stiff brown fine sand w/silt
14-16 M stiff firm-torn clay w/silt
16-18 Soft wet clay
18-20 Soft wet clay
20-22 V stiff brn med-coarse sand
22-24 V stiff brn med-coarse wlgravel
Tabls 5. Monitoring Well 3— TCE Reduction in Soil
Depth
ft Description of Strata
0-2 M. stiff brn. fine sand
2-4 M. stiff grey fine sand
4-6 Soft It. brn. fine sand
6-8 U. brn. fine sand
8-10 Stiff V. fine brn. silty sand
10-12
12-14 Soft brown silt
14-16 Wet green-brown silty clay
16-18 Wet green-brown silty clay
18-20 Wet green-brown silty clay
20-22 Silt, gravel, and rock frag.
22-24 M. stiff It. brn. med. sand
Perme-
autiity —
cm/sec
10'4
W4
10-5
W5
W4
TO'4
10'4
W8
70-8
W8
10'4
10-3
Strata
Perme-
ability —
cm/sec
70-5
10-5
10-*
10'4
W4

70"*
70-8
70-8
70-8
70"»
10'4
TCE Cone, ppm
pre post
2.94 NO
29.90 ND
260.0 39
303.0 9
351.0 ND
195.0 ND
3.14 2.3
ND ND
ND ND
ND ND
ND ND
6.71 ND

TCE Cone, ppm
pre post
10.30 ND
8.33 800
80.0 84
160.0 ND
ND 63
NR 2.3
316.0 ND
195.0 ND
218.0 62
1570.0 2.4
106.0 ND
64.1 ND

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                            100
                       1
                       s
                       o

                            0.1
                           0.01
srra-VAC Demonstration Extraction Well #1
Shallow
	
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Y - 1 59.33 ' EXP (-0-05X)
Curve Coefficient
R2 = o.62
                                        20        40       60

                                             Day of Active Treatment
                                               80
                                                        100
                      Figure 5. Wellhead TCE concentration vs time.
  Looking at the plots for extraction well
1, shallow and deep, equations are given
for the least squares best fit line for the
data points.  If the  vacuum  extraction
process is run long enough to achieve
the  detection  limit for TCE  on  the ECD,
which  is  1  ppbv,  the  length  of time
required to reach  that concentration
would be approximately 250 days  on the
                    shallow well and approximately 300 days
                    on the deep well.


                    Prediction of Time Required for
                    Site Remediation
                      The soil concentration that  would be
                    calculated from  the  wellhead  gas
                    concentration  using  Henry's Law is in-
                                          cluded in the last column of Table 6. Cal-
                                          culations for the predicted soil  concen-
                                          trations  were  made assuming a bulk
                                          density of the soil of 1761  kg/m3, a total
                                          porosity  of 50%, and a moisture content
                                          of 20%.  The calculated air filled porosity
                                          of the soil is approximately 15%. Henry's
                                          constant was taken to be OA92 KPa/m3-
                                          gmol at40°F.
   Table 6. Comparison of Wellhead Gas VOC Concentration and Soil VOC Concentration
    Extraction Well
TCE Concentration in
Wellhead Gas ppmv
TCE Concentration in
    Soil ppmw
Predicted by Henry's
    Law ppmw
1S
1D
2S
2D
3S
3D
4S
9.7
5.6
16.4
14.4
125.0
58.7
1095.6
54.5
7.2
ND
20.4
20.9
18.0
9.1
0.11
0.07
0.20
0.17
1.53
0.74
12.49

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  Given the nonhomogeneous nature of
the  subsurface  contamination  and
interactions of TCE with organic matter in
the soil, it was not possible to obtain  a
good correlation between VOC concen-
trations in wellhead gas and soil in order
to predict  site remediation times. Henry's
Law constants were used to calculate soil
concentrations  from wellhead  gas
concentrations and the calculated values
obtained, correcting for air filled porosity,
were lower than actual soil concentrations
by  at least an  order  of  magnitude (see
Table 6).
  Before  one  can attempt to make  a
rough estimation of the remediation time,
a target value for the particular contam-
inant in the  remediated  soil must be
calculated. This target concentration is
calculated by using  two mathematical
models,  the Vertical  and  Horizontal
Spread  Model  (VMS)  and the Organic
Leachate Model (OLM) (EPA Draft Guide-
lines for Petitioning Waste Generated by
the Petroleum Refinery Industry, June 12,
1987). The mathematical models allow
the  use  of a  regulatory  standard for
drinking water  in order  to arrive  at  a
target soil concentration.
  The VHS  model is expressed  as the
following equation:

Cy  = C0 erf (Z/(2(azY)Q.5)) erf (X/(atY)o.5)

where:

Cy  « concentration of VOC at compliance
     point (mg/l)

C0  »concentration of  VOC in  leachate
     (mg/l)
erf = error function (dimensionless)

Z  = penetration depth  of  leachate into
     the aquifer

Y  = distance  from site  to compliance
     point (m)

X  = length of site measured perpendic-
     ular to the direction of groundwater
     flow (m)

at  = lateral transverse dispersivity (m)

az  = vertical dispersivity (m)

  A simplified  version of the VHS model
is  most  often  used, which  reduces the
above equation to:

Cy = CQCf

where:

Cf =erf (Z/(2(azY)0.5))  erf (X/(atY)0.5),
     which is  reduced  to  a conversion
     factor corresponding to the amount
     of contaminated soil

  The Organic  Leachate Model (OLM) is
written as:

C0 = 0.00211 CS0.678S0.373

where:

C0 = concentration of VOC in  leachate
     (mg/l)

Cs = concentration of VOC in soil (mg/l)
S  = solubility of VOC in water (rng/l)

   The  regulatory standard  for  TCE  in
drinking water is 3.2 ppb. This regulatory
limit is  used in the  VHS model  as  the
compliance  point concentration in order
to solve for  a value of the leachate con-
centration.   This value of  leachate
concentration  is then used  in the OLM
model to solve for the target soil  concen-
tration.

  Once  the  target soil concentration  is
determined,  a  rough  estimation  of  the
remediation  time can be made by taking
the ratio of soil concentration to wellhead
gas concentration and extrapolating  in
order to arrive ,at a wellhead  gas  concen-
tration  at  the target soil  concentration.
The calculated target  soil concentration
for  this  site  is 500  ppbw.  This corre-
sponds  to an approximate wellhead gas
concentration of 89 ppb  for EW1S. The
equation correlating  wellhead  gas con-
centration with time (see Figure 15) is then
solved to give 150 days running time.
  After 150  days the vacuum extraction
system can be run intermittently to see if
significant increases  in gas concentra-
tions occur upon restarting, after at least
a two-day stoppage.  If there  are  no
appreciable  increases  in  gas concentra-
tion, the soil  has reached  its  residual
equilibrium  contaminant  concentration
and the  system may be stopped  and soil
borings taken and analyzed.
  The full report was  submitted in ful-
fillment  of Contract  No.  68-03-3255 by
Foster Wheeler Enviresponse, Inc., under
the sponsorship  of  the U.S.  Environ-
mental Protection Agency.
                                                            10

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   The EPA Project Manager, Mary Stinson, is with the Risk Reduction Engineering
    Laboratory, Edison, NJ 08837 (see below).
   The complete report consists of two volumes entitled "Technology Evaluation
    Report:  SITE Program  Demonstration  Test, Terra  Vac In Situ  Vacuum
    Extraction System, Groveland,  Massachusetts:"
    'Volume I" (Order No. PB 89-192 025/AS; Cost: $21.95, subject to change)
      discusses the results of the SITE demonstration
    "Volume II" (Order No. PB 89-192 033/AS;  Cost: $36.95, subject to change)
      contains the technical operating data logs, the sampling and analytical  data,
      and the quality assurance data
   Both volumes of this report will be available only from:
            National Technical Information Service
            5285 Port Royal Road
            Springfield, VA 22161
            Telephone: 703-487-4650
   A related report, entitled "Application Analysis Report: Terra Vac In Situ Vacuum
    Extraction System," which  discusses  the applications and costs, is under
    development.
   The EPA Project Manager can be contacted at:
            Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory
            U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
            Edison, NJ 08837
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Center for Environmental Research
Information
Cincinnati OH 45268
     BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
         EPA
   PERMIT No. G-35
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
EPA/540/S5-89/003

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