Engineering Solution for Predicting Contaminant Removal by Pneumatic Fracturing

Abstract

Pneumatic fracturing is a new enhancement process that has been accepted and recognized as a cost-effective technology in removing contaminant. This paper presents an analytical simulation and its engineering solution for pneumatic fracturing coupled with soil vapor extraction in a volatile contaminant removal process. This model constitutes a pair of coupled partial differential equations with the initial and boundary conditions for a field soil vapor extraction operation. By means of the Laplace transform, an analytical solution of the equations is obtained in an explicit form that can be readily used by engineers or decision makers directly. Implementation and validation of the solutions are presented using contaminant removal data from a field study. Excellent correlations are observed between the solution and the field data. The solution has potential use for studying the contaminant transport behavior and the field application of the pneumatic fracturing process.