Bioventing is an in situ remediation technology that uses indigenous microorganisms to biodegrade organic constituents adsorbed to soils in the unsaturated zone. Soils in the capillary fringe and the saturated zone are not affected. In bioventing, the activity of the indigenous bacteria is enhanced by inducing air (or oxygen) flow into the unsaturated zone (using extraction or injection wells) and, if necessary, by adding nutrients.
When extraction wells are used for bioventing, the process is similar to soil vapor extraction (SVE). However, while SVE removes constituents primarily through volatilization, bioventing systems promote biodegradation of constituents and minimize volatilization (generally by using lower air flow rates than for SVE ). In practice, some degree of volatilization and biodegradation occurs when either SVE or bioventing is used.
Application All aerobically biodegradable constituents can be treated by bioventing. In particular, bioventing has proven to be very effective in remediating releases of petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuels, kerosene, and diesel fuel. Bioventing is most often used at sites with mid-weight petroleum products (i.e., diesel fuel and jet fuel), because lighter products (i.e., gasoline) tend to volatilize readily and can be removed more rapidly using SVE . Heavier products (e.g., lubricating oils) generally take longer to biodegrade than the lighter products.
Bioventing is not appropriate for sites with groundwater tables located less than 3 feet below the land surface. Special considerations must be taken for sites with a groundwater table located less than 10 feet below the land surface because groundwater upwelling can occur within bioventing wells under vacuum pressures, potentially occluding screens and reducing or eliminating vacuum-induced soil vapor flow. This potential problem is not encountered if injection wells are used instead of extraction wells to induce air flow.
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