In Situ Steam Enhanced Recovery Process

The SERP technology is designed to treat soils contaminated with VOCs and SVOCs in situ. Steam injection and vacuum extraction are used to remove the organic compounds from the soil and concentrate them for disposal or recycling. A full-scale demonstration of SERP was conducted at the Rainbow Disposal site in Huntington Beach, CA. The technology removed some of the diesel fuel hydrocarbons from the site soil, but did not meet the site cleanup objective of 1,000 mg/kg (ppm) total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH). Operational problems during treatment may have impacted the treatment effectiveness. A detailed economic analysis of the application of this technology was performed. The SERP technology was evaluated based on seven criteria used for decision-making in the Superfund Feasibility Study process. Results of the evaluation are summarized in Table 1.