United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-F-01-012
May 2001
www.epa.gov/superfund/sites
www.cluin.org
&EPA A Citizen's Guide to In Situ
Thermal Treatment Methods
The Citizen's Guide Series
EPA uses many methods to clean up pollution at Superfund and other sites. Some, like in situ thermal treatment
methods, are considered new or innovative. Such methods can be quicker and cheaper than more common
methods. If you live, work, or go to school near a Superfund site, you may want to learn more about cleanup
methods. Perhaps they are being used or are proposed for use at your site. How do they work? Are they safe?
This Citizen's Guide is one in a series to help answer your questions.
What are in situ thermal treatment methods?
In situ thermal treatment methods, in general, are ways to move or mobilize harmful chemicals
through soil and groundwater by heating them. The heated chemicals move through the soil and
groundwater toward underground wells where they are collected and piped to the ground surface.
There the chemicals can be treated above ground by one of the many cleanup methods available.
How do they work?
All thermal methods work by heating polluted soil and groundwater. The heat helps push
chemicals through the soil toward collection wells. The heat also can destroy or evaporate
certain types of chemicals. When they evaporate, the chemicals change into gases, which
move more easily through the soil. Collection wells capture the harmful chemicals and gases
and pipe them to the ground surface for cleanup. Thermal methods can be particularly useful
for chemicals called non-aqueous phase liquids ovNAPLs, which do not dissolve or move
easily in groundwater. As a result, they can be a source of groundwater pollution for a long
time without proper treatment. In situ thermal methods include:
Steam injection: Forces or injects steam underground through wells drilled in the polluted
area. The steam heats the area and mobilizes, evaporates, and destroys the harmful chemicals.
Hot air injection: Similar to steam injection except hot air is injected through the wells
instead of steam. The hot air heats the soil causing the harmful chemicals to evaporate.
Hot water injection: Also similar to steam injection except that hot water is injected through
the wells instead of steam. The hot water mobilizes chemicals like NAPLs.
Electrical resistance heating: Delivers an electric current underground through wells made
of steel. The heat from the current converts groundwater and the water in the soil to steam,
which evaporates the harmful chemicals.
Radio frequency heating: Typically involves placing an antenna that emits radio waves in
a well. The radio waves heat the soil causing the harmful chemicals to evaporate.
Thermal conduction: Supplies heat to the soil through steel wells or with a blanket that
covers the ground surface. As the polluted area heats up, the harmful chemicals are de-
stroyed or evaporated. The blanket is used where the polluted soil is shallow. Steel wells are
used when the polluted soil is deep.
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For more
information
write the Technology
Innovation Office at:
U.S.EPA(5102G)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave.,
NW
Washington, DC 20460
or call them at
(703) 603-9910.
Further information also
can be obtained at
www.cluin.org or
www.epa/gov/
superfund/sites.
steam
Steam Injection
gases and polluted water
removed and cleaned up
steam
steam
polluted
soil and
groundwater
steam
Are in situ thermal treatment methods safe?
In situ thermal treatment methods are safe when properly operated. When there is a chance that
gases may pollute the air, a cover is placed over the ground to prevent their escape. And EPA
tests the air to make sure that the dust and gases are being captured. Scientists are also studying
whether heat can kill microbes or help microbes bioremediate chemicals. (See A Citizen's
Guide to Bioremediation [EPA 542-F-01-001].)
How long will it take ?
Cleaning soil and groundwater with thermal methods may take only
a few months or several years. The time it takes depends on three
major factors that vary from site to site:
• type and amounts of chemicals present
• size and depth of the polluted area
• type of soil and conditions present
Why use in situ thermal treatment methods?
Thermal methods speed the cleanup of many types of chemicals in the ground. Faster cleanups
can mean lower cleanup costs. Depending on the number of wells needed, thermal methods can
be expensive. However, they are some of the few methods that can help clean up NAPE in
place. This avoids the expense of digging up the soil for disposal or cleanup. Thermal methods
can work in some soils (such as clays) where other cleanup methods do not perform well. They
also offer a way of reaching pollution deep in the ground where it would be difficult or costly to
dig. Thermal methods are being used at several dozen sites across the country, including a few
Superfund sites.
NOTE: This fact sheet is intended solely as general guidance and information to the public. It is not intended, nor can it be relied
upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States, or to endorse the use of products or services
provided by specific vendors. The Agency also reserves the right to change this fact sheet at any time without public notice.
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