Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH) is an intensive in situ environmental remediation method that uses the flow of alternating current electricity to heat soil and groundwater and evaporate contaminants. Electric current is passed through a targeted soil volume between subsurface electrode elements. The resistance to electrical flow that exists in the soil causes the formation of heat; resulting in an increase in temperature until the boiling point of water at depth is reached. After reaching this temperature, further energy input causes a phase change, forming steam and removing volatile contaminants. ERH is typically more cost effective when used for treating contaminant source areas.
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Three-phase heating (see Technology below) was originally created to enhance oil recovery. This design was patented in 1976 by Bill Pritchett of ARCO. The patent has expired and is now available for public use.
Six-phase heating (see Technology below) was created and patented for the US Department of Energy (DOE) in the 1980s for use on DOE sites as well as commercial applications.
Electrical resistance heating is used by the environmental restoration industry for remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater. ERH consists of constructing electrodes in the ground, applying alternating current (AC) electricity to the electrodes and heating the subsurface to temperatures that promote the evaporation of contaminants. Volatilized contaminants are captured by a subsurface vapor recovery system and conveyed to the surface along with recovered air and steam. Similar to Soil vapor extraction, the air, steam and volatilized contaminants are then treated at the surface to separate water, air and the contaminants. Treatment of the various streams depends on local regulations and the amount of contaminant.
Some low volatility organic contaminants have a short hydrolysis half life. For contaminants like these, i.e. 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane and 1,1,1-trichloroethane, hydrolysis can be the primary form of remediation. As the subsurface is heated the hydrolysis half life of the contaminant will decrease as described by the Arrhenius equation. This results in a rapid degradation of the contaminant. The hydrolysis by-product may be remediated by conventional ERH, however the majority of the mass of the primary contaminant will not be recovered but rather will degrade to a by-product.
There are predominantly two electrical load arrangements for ERH: three-phase and six-phase. Three-phase heating consists of electrodes in a repeating triangular or delta pattern. Adjacent electrodes are of a different electrical phase so electricity conducts between them as shown in Figure 1. The contaminated area is depicted by the green shape while the electrodes are depicted by the numbered circles.
Six-phase heating consists of six electrodes in a hexagonal pattern with a neutral electrode in the center of the array. The six-phase arrays are outlined in blue in Figure 2 below. Once again the contaminated area is depicted by the green shape while the electrodes are depicted by the numbered circles. In a six-phase heating pattern there can be hot spots and cold spots depending on the phases that are next to each other. For this reason, six-phase heating typically works best on small circular areas that are less than 65 feet in diameter.
ERH is typically most effective on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The chlorinated compounds perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and cis or trans 1,2-dichloroethylene are contaminants that are easily remediated with ERH. The table shows contaminants that can be remediated with ERH along with their respective boiling points. Less volatile contaminants like xylene or diesel can also be remediated with ERH but energy requirements increase as the volatility decreases.
| List of compounds that can be remediated with ERH | ||
| Chemical | Molecular Weight (g) | Boiling Point (°C) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,1,1-trichloroethane | 133.4 | 74 |
| 1,1,2-trichloroethane | 133.4 | 114 |
| 1,1-dichloroethane | 99 | 57 |
| 1,1-dichloroethene | 97 | 32 |
| 1,2-dichloroethane | 99 | 84 |
| 1,2-dichloropropane | 167.9 | 97 |
| benzene | 78.1 | 80 |
| carbon tetrachloride | 153.8 | 77 |
| chlorobenzene | 112.6 | 132 |
| chloroform | 119.4 | 62 |
| cis-1,2-dichloroethyene | 97 | 60 |
| dibromoethane | 187.9 | 132 |
| ethylbenzene | 106.2 | 136 |
| 1,1,2-Trichloro-1,2,2-trifluoroethane | 187.4 | 48 |
| gasoline | 100 | 100 |
| methylene chloride/dichloromethane | 84.9 | 41 |
| 4-methyl-2-pentanone/methyl isobutyl ketone | 100.2 | 117 |
| 2-methoxy-2-methylpropane/methyl tert-butyl ether | 88.1 | 55 |
| perchloroethylene | 165.8 | 121 |
| trichloroethene | 131.5 | 87 |
| tert-butyl alcohol | 74.1 | 83 |
| toluene | 92.1 | 111 |
| trans-1,2-dichloroethene | 97 | 48 |
| vinyl chloride | 62.5 | -14 |
| xylene | 106.2 | 140 |
Electrode spacing and operating time can be adjusted to balance the overall remediation cost with the desired cleanup time. A typical remediation may consist of electrodes spaced 15 to 20 feet apart with operating times usually less than a year. The design and cost of an ERH remediation system depends on a number of factors, primarily the volume of soil/groundwater to be treated, the type of contamination, and the treatment goals. The physical and chemical properties of the target compounds are governed by laws that make heated remediations advantageous over most conventional methods. The electrical energy usage required for heating the subsurface and volatilizing the contaminants can account for 5 to 40% of the overall remediation cost.
There are several laws that govern an ERH remediation. Dalton’s law governs the boiling point of a relatively insoluble contaminant. Raoult’s law governs the boiling point of mutually soluble co-contaminants and Henry’s law governs the ratio of the contaminant in the vapor phase to the contaminant in the liquid phase.
For mutually insoluble compounds Dalton’s Law states that the partial pressure of a non aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) is equal to its vapor pressure, and that the NAPL in contact with water will boil when the vapor pressure of water plus the vapor pressure of the VOC is equal to ambient pressure. When a VOC-steam bubble is formed the composition of the bubble is proportional to the composite’s respective vapor pressures.
For mutually soluble compounds, Raoult’s Law states that the partial pressure of a compound is equal to its vapor pressure times its mole fraction. This means that mutually soluble contaminants will volatilize slower than if there was only one compound present.
Henry’s law describes the tendency of a compound to join air in the vapor phase or dissolve in water. The Henry’s Law constant, sometimes called coefficient, is specific to each compound, varies with temperature, and predicts the amount of contaminant that will stay in the vapor phase or transfer to the liquid phase when exiting the condenser.