Affiliations: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Politecnico di Bari via Orabona, 13, 70100, Bari, Italy | 1Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di
Ricerca Sulle Acque, Reparto di Chimica e Tecnologia delle acque, via Francesco
De Blasio, 5, 70123 Bari (Italy)
Abstract: The effectiveness of soil vapour extraction (SVE) in the remediation
of a site polluted by hydrocarbons located in Southern Italy (Brindisi), has
been tested by means of experimental data and a computational code. SVE is one
of the most frequent techniques used for the remediation of vadose zones
contaminated by hydrocarbons. In the case studied, actual BTEX (Benzene,
Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes) and TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons)
contamination have been considered. The application aimed to examine some
technical and economic features of the SVE technique, as well as to point out
the very important role of mathematical models in management of contaminated
sites. The code simulation predicted both contaminant depletion trends and
remediation times at polluted site. The simulation results pointed out
different remediation performance for BTEX (more than 150 days) and TPH (more
than 600 days) removal. The treatment costs of the simulated SVE "on
site" technique resulted competitive with respect to the other
"ex site" methods which can be carried out at the same
contaminated area and should be encouraged by the local authorities.
Keywords: Contaminated sites remediation, unsaturated subsoil, multiphase flow and transport, soil vapour extraction, remediation time and costs
