HR: 1340h
AN: H23E-1471 [Abstracts]
TI: Quantification of Natural Attenuation of N-S-O Heteroaromatic Compounds in Groundwater at Field
Scale
AU: * Ptak, T
EM: thomas.ptak@geo.uni-goettingen.de
AF: University of Goettingen, Geosciences Center, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, Goettingen, D-37077
Germany
AU: Piepenbrink, M
EM: matthias.piepenbrink@uni-tuebingen.de
AF: University of Tuebingen, Center for Applied Geoscience, Sigwartstrasse 10, Tuebingen, D-72076
Germany
AU: Grathwohl, P
EM: peter.grathwohl@uni-tuebingen.de
AF: University of Tuebingen, Center for Applied Geoscience, Sigwartstrasse 10, Tuebingen, D-72076
Germany
AB:
N-S-O heteroaromatic compounds (HET) can typically be found in groundwater at tar oil contaminated sites. Despite the fact
that most of these substances are toxic and potentially carcinogenic, they are not yet routinely monitored. Goal of this
contribution is to present results from the investigation of the in-situ natural attenuation potential of HET in groundwater
at field-scale. The research has been performed at the `Testfeld-Sd' (TFS) experimental site, a former gasworks site in
southern Germany. At the TFS site, the ongoing quantitative determination of the natural attenuation potential of HET is
performed using an integral investigation approach at multiple control planes (integral pumping tests, based on the inversion
of concentration time series measured during pumping), which are positioned at different distances downgradient of the
source zone. Natural attenuation processes result in a reduction of the total contaminant mass flow with increasing transport
distance. Degradation rates can be obtained from (multi-)process-based reactive transport modeling which considers all
processes contributing to mass flow reduction. Two control planes (CPs) at a distance of about 150 m were used for the
integral measurements at the TFS site. The concentration time series already indicate that contaminants like BTEX and PAH
almost vanished on their way from the upstream to the downstream CP, while HET were still present. The determined mass flow
rates further indicate that some of the HET (especially Methylbenzofurane and Dimethylbenzofurane) are not only very mobile,
but also highly persistent. This confirms the dominating role of HET as major contaminants at the TFS site. However, the
observed decrease in the total Dimethylbenzofurane mass flow rates already indicates good chances for enhanced natural
attenuation (ENA) measures (e.g. injection of H2O2 as additional electron acceptor to stimulate biodegradation) which are
planned as next steps.
Acknowledgement: The authors greatly acknowledge the financial support of this study within the KORA-framework of the German
Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF), grant 02WN0361.
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
DE: 1831 Groundwater quality
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
DE: 1847 Modeling
DE: 1895 Instruments and techniques: monitoring
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005