EPA SITE demonstration of the BioTrol soil washing process

A pilot-scale soil washing process, patented by BioTrol, Inc., was demonstrated on soil contaminated by wood treating waste, primarily pentachlorophenol (PCP) and creosote-derived polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Although soil washing was the main object of this demonstration, the treatment train that was evaluated included two other BioTrol technologies for treatment of waste streams from the soil washer. The three technologies were: The BioTrol Soil Washer (BSW)--a volume reduction process, which uses water to separate contaminated soil fractions from the bulk of the soil. The BioTrol Aqueous Treatment System (BATS)--a biological water treatment process. The Slurry Bioreactor (SBR)--a BioTrol biological slurry treatment process conducted in an EIMCO BIOLIFT reactor. The sandy soil at the site, consisting of less than 10 percent of fines, was well suited for treatment by soil washing. The soil washer was evaluated in two tests on soil samples containing 130 ppm and 680 ppm of PCP, respectively. The BSW successfully separated the feed soil (dry weight basis) into 83 percent of washed soil, 10 percent of woody residues, and 7 percent of fines. The washed soil retained about 10 percent of the feed soil contamination while 90 percent of the feed soil contamination was contained within the woody residues, fines, and process water. The soil washer achieved up to 89 percent removal of PCP and 88 percent of total PAHs, based on the difference between their levels in the as-is (wet) feed soil and the washed soil.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)