Process Engineering Feasibility Studies
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Completed feasibility studies
In our process engineering laboratories in Kiel and Cologne, we conduct feasibility studies for environmental remediation projects. In doing so, we identify suitable treatment steps, estimate the required amount of active agents, and analyze process-critical side reactions. The goal of these studies is to maximize the chances of success for remediation projects. To this end, we collect site-specific data on microbial and chemical degradation rates, analyze opportunities for optimizing contaminant degradation, and examine factors at the site that limit degradation.
Batch
Batch tests are degradation studies conducted in a reaction vessel and represent the technically simplest method for analyzing biological and chemical degradation. Due to their low cost, they are ideal for testing different treatment options in parallel and directly comparing their pollutant degradation processes. This approach allows for the rapid and reliable identification of promising treatment options for a specific site.
Pillar
The kinetics of contaminant degradation processes in a soil matrix saturated with groundwater can already be simulated quite accurately in the laboratory using soil columns through which groundwater from the site flows, compared to batch experiments. For this reason, column experiments represent a significantly more site-specific method for investigating contaminant degradation processes, in which critical accompanying processes—such as precipitation processes—can also be studied.
Push-Pull
Push-pull tests offer a technically simple way to investigate contaminant degradation processes directly on-site, typically using existing monitoring wells or boreholes. To do this, treatment techniques for contaminant removal—which have been identified in the laboratory as particularly suitable—are applied once or repeatedly at a monitoring well in the contaminated area. As a rule, a significant decrease in contaminant concentrations around the monitoring well can be detected after just a few weeks of treatment, serving as evidence of the treatment’s effectiveness.
Pilot
Before undertaking large-scale remediation using in-situ remediation techniques, it is often advisable to first test the planned remediation method in a small area. This approach allows for the determination of key design parameters for the technical implementation of the overall project, such as—most importantly—the achievable ranges for active agent application at the site, the dynamics and intensity of material consumption at the site, and the achievable contaminant degradation rates at the site. This data provides the greatest possible design and process reliability with regard to the large-scale implementation of in-situ remediation, thereby ensuring that investments in the remediation project are well spent.
