Vapor phase elemental sulfur amendment for sequestering mercury in contaminated soil
AssigneeSavannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
InventorsBrian B. Looney, Miles E. Denham, Dennis G. Jackson
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Abstract
The process of treating elemental mercury within the soil is provided by introducing into the soil a heated vapor phase of elemental sulfur. As the vapor phase of elemental sulfur cools, sulfur is precipitated within the soil and then reacts with any elemental mercury thereby producing a reaction product that is less hazardous than elemental mercury.
Claims11
A process of treating in-situ elemental mercury contamination within a soil comprising steps of:
- providing an in-situ soil substrate having elemental mercury contamination;
- introducing a supply of sulfur into a below ground region in proximity to the in-situ soil substrate;
- heating the supply of sulfur in the below ground region to form a sulfur vapor;
- directing the sulfur vapor from the below ground region and into the in-situ soil substrate having elemental mercury contamination;
- precipitating, the sulfur within the in-situ soil substrate;
- allowing the precipitated sulfur to react with residual elemental mercury present within the soil, thereby forming a reaction product of a mercury sulfide.
A process of treating elemental mercury within a soil comprising steps of:
- heating a subsurface soil to a temperature sufficient to enhance vapor phase concentration of elemental mercury present within the soil;
- using vapor extraction to remove vaporized elemental mercury from the soil;
- introducing a vapor phase of elemental sulfur into the heated soil by passing heated air through a mixture of coarse sand and elemental sulfur, thereby distributing the elemental sulfur throughout the mercury contamination zone;
- allowing the sulfur vapor to react with vapor phase elemental mercury to form a reaction product of a mercury sulfide;
- cooling said soil and thereby precipitating the vapor phase sulfur within the soil;
- allowing the precipitated sulfur to react with residual elemental mercury present within the soil thereby forming a reaction product of mercury sulfide.
A process of treating in-situ elemental mercury contamination within a soil comprising steps of:
- introducing into a soil contaminated with mercury a sulfur vapor, the sulfur vapor formed by heating elemental sulfur present within an access well;
- allowing the sulfur vapor to react with a vapor phase elemental mercury present in the soil to form a stable and nontoxic reaction product of mercury sulfide;
- precipitating a portion of the sulfur vapor as elemental sulfur within the contaminated soil region;
- reacting the precipitated elemental sulfur with residual elemental mercury present within the soil, thereby forming a reaction product, of a mercury sulfide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.