Relative Impact on GAC Usage Rates of Operating Strategies for Treatment of Contaminated Groundwater

Abstract

The former Nebraska Ordnance Plant has groundwater contaminated with a mixture of trichloroethylene (TCE) and the high explosive RDX that is treated in a system of eight granular activated carbon (GAC) contactors. A mathematical model was utilized to simulate alternative operating scenarios along with variable influent concentrations. In this study, blending effluent from parallel columns resulted in the lowest GAC usage rate when the target effluent