Loureiro Environmental assisted Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) by treatability testing several remedial technologies for carbon tetrachloride (CT) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) impacted groundwater at an active explosive research and storage facility. The bench testing evaluated several applicable remedial technologies:
- Catalyzed Hydrogen Peroxide (CHP)
- Alkaline Activated Persulfate (AAP)
- Micron Scale Zero Valent Iron (ZVI) and Nickel Catalyzed ZVI
- Nano-scale ZVI
The results of the treatability testing indicated that AAP applied at 50 g/L provided a high certainty of meeting the remedial goals without the persistence of undesirable end products. The AAP reduced CT by > 98% with three applications, at a concentration of 200 g/L only a single application of AAP was required. CHP was also effective, but site-specific concerns associated with the associated gas evolution eliminated this technology from further consideration. The ZVI technologies also effectively treated CT, but persistent daughter products also eliminated this technology from consideration for the pilot testing. Based on the bench test results, Loureiro Environmental both completed pilot testing followed by a full-scale AAP application at the site, using a recirculation based injection strategy. Groundwater monitoring results indicated that project objectives were met for both CT and PCE.
