Primary Author:
Haysem Naboulsi
Corporate Director of Business Development
Nelson Environmental Remediation Ltd.
Normandy, Washington, USA

Conference Presenter:
Darryl Nelson
President
Nelson Environmental Remediation Ltd.

Nelson Environmental Remediation (NER) has been offering Low Temperature Thermal Desorption soil remediation services for over 20yrs. The most commonly used method to treat hydrocarbon impacted soil is disposal at a landfill site. This method, however does not remediation the soil, it merely re-locates the problem while the property owner maintains the liability and is not sustainable in the long term. Low Temperature Thermal Desorption (LTTD) is an innovative process of remediating hydrocarbon contaminated soils, sediments and sludge in a sustainable manner which preserves the remediated soil for re-use that eliminates liability. LTTD is an Ex-Situ means of physically separating volatile and semi volatile organic contaminants from the soils through application of heat, incorporating sound environmental practices. Hydrocarbon impacted soils are placed in a chamber, and heated to volatilize the hydrocarbons. The contaminated gaseous vapors are then run through a bag house to remove particulates and the contaminants destroyed using a thermal oxidizer., converting them into carbon dioxide and water. The clean soil can be used to fill in the excavation at the site
Nelson will discuss the performance factors that the consultant must be considered in order to successfully use Low Temperature Thermal Desorption.. These factors include proper up logistical planning, site requirement issues equipment operating factors, logistical planning, soil’s physical properties of the soil, contaminant characteristics and concentration, volume of contaminated soil, by-products of the treatment process, and fuel sources, all factors that can affect the effectiveness of the treatment process. Operational issues; like frost and frozen ground conditions, plant operations, treated stockpile confirmation sampling and reinstatement/backfilling will be discussed to help understand the real issues that occur after the selection of the technology.