SBIR-STTR Award

The primary objective of this proposal is to select an effective in-situ technology for remediating PCE/TCE at Tinker Air Force Base. A secondary objective of the work is to develop a protocol that can be used for identifying feasible in-situ approaches for chlorinated solvent degradation on a site-specific basis. The four remedial technologies that will be evaluated include anaerobic dehalogenation alone, anaerobic dehalogenation followed by aerobic biodegradation, anaerobic dehalogenation followed by chemical oxidation, and chemical oxidation alone. Geochemical analyses of groundwater and sediment samples will identify whether the site conditions are conducive to oxidation and/or reduction technologies. Laboratory testing will identify whether the rates and degree of stimulated reductive dehalogenation and chemical oxidation are sufficient to be considered as stand alone technologies or whether they are more suitable as a polishing step for degrading PCE/TCE dehalogenation products. Field tests, using the "push-pull" methodology, will be conducted to confirm the ability of reductive dehalogenation to transform PCE/TCE. The strengths and weaknesses (pros and cons) of each of the four remedial systems as they apply to the demonstration site will be evaluated.Surbec spends approximately $100,000 per year on marketing, research and development efforts. Commercialization will continue during the SBIR process. This effort typically focuses on large consultants and end users including, DOD, DOE, and Industry. The results from this project have the potential to substantially enhance the marketability of this technology. Once the project is complete, the data will be used in our marketing efforts to provide a higher level of confidence in end users. Also, the completed selection protocol will be published in a refereed journal and provided to regulatory agencies for use in technology selection. By publishing and distributing the protocol to regulatory agencies, the information will be distributed quickly throughout the environmental community

The main objective of this proposed work is to identify and compare the effectiveness, both technological and economical, of two chemical oxidation technologies and a bioremediation scheme for TCE remediation using "side by side" in-situ treatment zones at Tinker Air Force Base. Surbec's work will emphasize the importance of side-by side comparisons for technology selection. While some aspects of our proposal can be considered novel, our goal is to address the shortcomings that have previously been identified for chemical oxidation and microbial technologies for chlorinated solvent remediation in an effort to identify an effective method for TCE cleanup at Tinker Air Force Base. The results gathered from this work will be useful for evaluating clean-up options in many areas of Tinker Air Force Base and other military installations. Our overall goal is to assist Tinker Air Force Base in identifying technologies for source zone and dilute plume remediation