Remediation equipment includes machinery for removing contaminants from soil or groundwater, such as backhoes, pumps, filtration equipment, and combustion systems. Excavating equipment is used for soil removal, while spargers and aeration systems are used for volatile pollutants. Filtration equipment removes particulate contaminants, and rotary kilns and infrared burners are used for solid combustion processes. Remediation can take years and involve multiple technologies.
Remediation equipment includes a wide variety of machinery used for the removal of contaminants from soil or groundwater. Types of reclamation equipment include construction equipment such as backhoes and bulldozers, transportation trucks or rail cars, pumps for moving liquids, aeration and sparging machinery, filtration equipment, and combustion systems such as rotary kilns and infrared burners . For large-scale projects, different types of equipment can be used together.
In case of soil contamination, it is sometimes necessary to move or remove a quantity of earth to carry out the remediation. Backhoes and bulldozers move heavily contaminated material into a lined containment area to prevent further leaching of contaminants deeper into the ground. In some cases, a decision is made to remove contaminated soil and treat it off site. Excavating equipment is used to excavate soil so it can be loaded onto trucks or rail cars for transport elsewhere.
For the remediation of a contaminated liquid, most often water, pumping is required to move the water in or through other treatment equipment or back into the ground or a storage tank. If the liquid is taken from the site for treatment, pumps are used to move it into road tankers or rail cars for shipment. Many treatment methods rely on exposure of contaminated groundwater to air, and pumps are also required to achieve this.
The introduction of forced air into soil or water can cause volatile pollutants to be released into the air. Spargers inject air bubbles into the lower levels of contaminated water or soil so that rising air can carry volatile compounds to the surface. Aeration or air stripping systems move contaminated water into towers or trays where it is distributed to expose as much of its surface area as possible to the air. Air stripping remediation equipment can be designed as packed towers, spray units, and diffusers.
Particulate contaminants can be removed using filtration equipment. By using a porous media or membrane, particles that cannot pass through the openings in the filter media are trapped. The degree of filtration depends on the size of the particles that can pass through the filter medium or membrane.
Remediation equipment for solid combustion processes contaminated by volatile organic compounds such as petroleum products. A rotary kiln burns volatile materials in a rotating cylinder equipped with an afterburner and a method for capturing and cleaning the exhaust gases such as a bag or scrubber. The infrared combustion is achieved with silicon carbide rods electrically powered at very high temperatures. The contaminated materials move on a conveyor belt to pass through the radiant heat from the rods and burn the combustible components.
Cleaning up a large site can take years and involve a variety of technologies. Some remediation equipment such as aerators and spargers work very gradually to clean polluted soil and water and may require multiple treatment cycles. Other options such as filtration and combustion are effective after just one treatment, although they are not suitable for all pollutants.
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