Green Remediation Using Renewable Energy and Automation

The project reduced contaminants associated with gasoline at a retail fuel station while implementing green practices to reduce the overall, negative environmental impact. Groundwater gasoline range organic concentrations at the site were 500 mg/L prior to system startup. Advanced technologies and automation were implemented to minimize the energy requirements, allow for flexibility in flow rates, minimize the operations and maintenance requirements, and maximize system run time. An electric catalytic oxidizer with exhaust heat recovery was used and energy consumption was tracked to analyze efficiency. Variable frequency drives on the blower and discharge water pump were utilized for more efficient variable speed operation. Solar powered groundwater sampling events were conducted using battery operated equipment charged in a photovoltaic equipped site trailer. Automated data acquisition with remote upload capability was utilized to minimize site visit fuel consumption and labor.