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US 5,667,339 AGranted
Cryogenic method and system for remediating contaminataed earth
AssigneeUniversity of Washington
InventorJ. Gregory Dash
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An advancing freeze front is established in a porous region adjacent to or within contaminated earth. A flow of contaminated liquid phase water migrates toward the freeze front and a concentration of impurities is established in front of the advancing freeze front. When the freeze front reaches a collection zone, at least a portion is melted and the resultant water bearing concentrated impurities is collected and removed. This process may be repetitively performed. A liquid convection flow can be established transverse to the direction of freeze-front advancement to stabilize the solid/liquid interface at the freeze-front.
Claims35
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front.
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front, wherein said heat transfer assembly comprises:
- i) at least one substantially planar array of elongated, substantially parallel tubular elements and associated means for passing a heat exchange fluid through said tubular elements, each of said tubular elements being elongated along a principal axis in a principal plane of said array, and
- ii) means for selectively controlling the temperature of, and driving said heat exchange fluid through, said tubular elements,
- wherein said system comprises a plurality of said planar arrays in a nested configuration.
3 more elements
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front, wherein said heat transfer assembly comprises:
- i) at least one substantially planar array of elongated, substantially parallel tubular elements and associated means for passing a heat exchange fluid through said tubular elements, each of said tubular elements being elongated along a principal axis in a principal plane of said array, and
- ii) means for selectively controlling the temperature of, and driving said heat exchange fluid through, said tubular elements,
- wherein said heat transfer assembly includes at least one pair of planar arrays forming an elongated V-shaped array beneath said contaminated earth,
- said system further comprising a plurality of said planar arrays in a nested configuration.
4 more elements
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front,
- wherein said heat transfer assembly comprises:
- i) at least one array of tubular elements and associated means for passing a heat exchange fluid through said tubular elements, each of said tubular elements being elongated along a principal axis, each principal axis, at one end, converging toward a common point beneath said collection zone and at the other end, diverging about said collection zone such that the continuous surface extending through each principal axis forms a substantially conical zone, and
- ii) means for selectively controlling the temperature of, and driving heat exchange fluid through, said tubular element.
3 more elements
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front,
- wherein said collection means comprises:
- i) a substantially planar array of elongated, substantially parallel collector elements, each of said collector elements being elongated along a principal axis and having an upward-facing J- or V-shaped cross-section transverse to its principal axis nominally horizontal with a slight angular offset about one end of said array, and
- ii) a collection manifold and associated pump assembly, said collection manifold having an input port coupled to the lowermost end of each of said collector elements and an output port coupled to said pump assembly.
3 more elements
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front, further comprising:
- D) a heat source disposed in or near said collection zone and including means for selectively heating said freeze-front as it approaches said collection zone, wherein said heat source comprises:
- i) a substantially planar array of elongated substantially parallel heating elements, each of said heating elements being elongated along a principal axis, said array being positioned substantially parallel to said array of tubular elements and said array of collection elements, and
- ii) means for selectively controlling the temperature of said heating elements.
3 more elements
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front, wherein said collection means comprises a moisture or contaminant absorbing material.
A system for remediating contaminated earth in-situ, comprising:
- A) a heat transfer assembly disposed in said earth and including means for advancing a freeze-front in a region of said earth adjacent to said assembly toward a collection zone in said region, said assembly being disposed in or adjacent said contaminated earth, at least a portion of said contaminated earth being disposed between said heat transfer assembly and said collection zone,
- B) a collection means, for collecting contaminants, disposed in said collection zone, and
- C) means for establishing a flow of liquid adjacent to said freeze-front and transverse to the direction of advancement of said freeze-front, further comprising a containment barrier surrounding at least a portion of said contaminated earth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.