Low Volatile Organics in Groundwater: Techno-Economic Evaluation of an Innovative Treatment Process

Conventional air stripping and granular activated carbon adsorption are two of the best available technologies for removing organic contaminants from water. The air-stripping process is uneconomical for contaminants of low volatility, and the adsorption process is considerably more expensive. An innovative process introduced as “cascade air stripping” was demonstrated to be more efficient than the conventional air-stripping process in removing contaminants of semi and low volatility. In this research, design, scale-up and engineering procedures for the cascade air-stripping process are developed and verified using laboratory and field scale systems. In addition, it is compared with the conventional air stripping and adsorption processes on the basis of capital, operating and overall treatment costs.

The process model and the scale-up procedures developed in this study were found to work well for the laboratory- and full-scale systems. For the five typical contaminants evaluated, cascade air-stripping system was found to be consistently more cost-effective than conventional air stripping and granular activated carbon adsorption.