This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is focused on enhancing performance of soil and ground water remediation systems at petroleum hydrocarbon impacted sites. Presently accepted remediation technologies are ineffective, time consuming and expensive. As a result, the cost and resources needed to remediate impacted underground storage tank (UST) sites are prohibitive. Surfactant enhanced subsurface remediation is proposed as an alternative remediation technology. The goal of this research is to demonstrate the effectiveness of surfactant enhanced remediation technology and the technical feasibility of a pilot scale field application. An economic analysis will be conducted and compared to existing technology. Surfactants can increase the solubility and mobility of organic chemicals trapped in the subsurface, resulting in significantly increased removal efficiencies and reduced costs. Although a number of laboratory studies and a few field studies have investigated surfactant enhanced remediation, a comprehensive field application has not yet been attempted. Future utilization of this technology could result in significant savings in remediation costs for companies employing it.
