Development and Application of an Oxygen-Controlled High-Pressure Aeration System for the Treatment of TPH-Contaminated Soils in High Biopiles (a Case Study)

Petroleum releases to the environment can cause safety hazards, ecological harm and adverse human health effects, and therefore the treatment of petroleum contaminated sites is necessary (Weismann et al. 1998). Today, the treatment of soils contaminated by petroleum products is one of the most frequently occurring cases in soil remediation, and many different techniques are available to purify petroleum contaminated soils (e.g. Koning et al. 2000a). Within the biological remediation processes in particular, the biopile process has been established as one of the most effective and competitive technologies for the treatment of petroleum contaminated soils. Nevertheless, in order to increase the economic efficiency of the process further developments are crucial (Schulz-Berendt 2000).