Case Study - Mobile Treatment Unit
Background
Following the failure of a buried oil line, over 1,000 litres of kerosene was lost to ground at a village hall. Initial investigation and remediation works were undertaken by others which included the drilling of groundwater monitoring boreholes and manual recovery of free phase kerosene.
Persistent free phase kerosene was identified in groundwater below the site and Oracle were instructed to take over the groundwater remediation at the site.
LNAPL Recovery
Oracle deployed a Mobile Treatment Unit (MTU) which was setup and operational in less than 4 hours after arriving at the site. The system replaced regular, and expensive, vacuum tankering being undertaken by the previous contractor.
The system was operated with top-loading pneumatic NAPL recovery pumps to target recovery of the neat kerosene. The system operated 24/7 to allow the rapid removal of kerosene from groundwater.
The recovered NAPL/water was treated in the MTU using an oil-water separator and granular activated carbon filters prior to discharge to reduce hydrocarbon concentrations to <0.01 mg/l.
Outcome
The Mobile Treatment Unit processed a total of 320,000 litres of kerosene contaminated groundwater and was successful in the removal of measurable neat kerosene from the site.
Mobilisation of the MTU resulted in a clear increase in the recovery of kerosene at the site in comparison to the original approach of manual recovery, providing both time and cost savings on the project.