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US 5,345,034 AGranted
Containment of subsurface contaminants
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorJohn C. Corey
Life of this patent
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AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorJohn C. Corey
Estimating the term…
A barrier for reducing the spread of a plume of subsurface contaminants. The apparatus includes a well system for injecting a fluid, such as air, just outside and below the periphery of the plume. The fluid is injected at a pressure sufficient to lower the hydraulic conductivity of the soil from the point of injection to the surface thus establishing a curtain-like barrier to groundwater movement. The barrier is established upgradient of the plume to divert groundwater away, or preferably completely around the plume to reduce the flow of groundwater into or out of the plume. The barrier enables the remediation of the confined contamination and then, when the injection of the fluid is halted, the barrier quickly dissipates.
A method for reducing the flow of groundwater into a region of soil from adjacent soil below the surface of the earth, said method comprising the step of injecting a fluid into said adjacent soil at a pressure sufficient to reduce the hydraulic conductivity of said adjacent soil so that groundwater flow through said adjacent soil is substantially reduced, said fluid percolating to the surface through said adjacent soil thereby forming a curtain of low hydraulic conductivity adjacent to and outside said region, said curtain substantially reducing groundwater flow from said adjacent soil into said region.
A temporary barrier to groundwater flow into a region of soil below the earth's surface from adjacent soil, said region defined by a plume of contamination, said barrier formed by the process comprising the steps of:
A method for remediating a plume of contaminants in soil through which groundwater flows into said plume from adjacent soil, said method comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.