Waste minimization in the remediation of contaminated sites: using the oil belt skimmer technology for the removal of heavy hydrocarbons from groundwater

Modern society increasingly requires achieving the goal of remediation and at the same time minimizing the waste to be disposed. Although the pump and treat is a consolidated technology option for the decontamination of groundwater polluted by heavy hydrocarbons, it generates an excessive amount of waste (typically, dangerous). With the intent of reducing such waste, our study is concerned with the verification of the oil belt skimmer technology for the decontamination of a heavy hydrocarbon-polluted groundwater. For this purpose, several tests at laboratory scale and full-scale experimentations with duration greater than 1 year were carried out. The obtained results showed the feasibility of the investigated technology for groundwater decontamination in the cases where the water mobility (of the aquifer) was low and in the presence of oil thicknesses greater than 2 cm. The heavy hydrocarbon recovery capacities were in the range of 33.3–85.5 l/h with the best performances in the cases of supernatant thickness ≥2 cm and pumping of the water table in such a way that the oil acquires a higher mobility in the aquifer. Moreover, the recovery capacity was found to be dependent on the rainfall pattern as well as on the groundwater fluctuation. Compared to the pump-and-treat system, the investigated technology allowed reducing by 98.7 % the amount of waste to be disposed suggesting the use in presence of high thickness of the oils. Finally, in a view of system optimization, treatment trains based on the combination of the oil belt skimmer technology and the pump-and-treat system should be carefully assessed.