Eliminating Risk of Exposure to PFAS in Groundwater: Full Scale In Situ Remediation with Colloidal Activated Carbon
Tuesday, August 6, 2019: 10:00 a.m.
Kristen Thoreson, Ph.D
,
Research & Development, REGENESIS, San Clemente, CA
Scott Wilson
,
REGENESIS, San Clemente, CA
Colloidal activated carbon (CAC) is emerging as a low cost, effective method for the
in situ remediation of PFAS in groundwater. CAC can be readily emplaced into an aquifer and coat the high flux zones to create an
in situ, permeable sorption barrier which purifies the passively migrating groundwater. PFAS constituents from up-gradient source zones are rapidly sorbed to the activated carbon and removed from the mobile dissolved phase, eliminating the route of exposure to down-gradient receptors and thereby also eliminating the public health risk associated with PFAS exposure.
Data will be presented from several field case sites at which a single application of colloidal activated carbon resulted in reduction in PFAS groundwater concentrations by several orders of magnitude, bringing them below USEPA health advisory levels. CAC isotherm data and sorption test data will also be presented for specific PFAS compounds indicating excellent sorption capability and increased performance with decreasing carbon particle size. Additionally, plume modeling will be presented indicating the longevity of in situ colloidal carbon treatment for PFAS to be on the order of multiple decades before reapplication is required.
Kristen Thoreson, Ph.D, Research & Development, REGENESIS, San Clemente, CA
Dr. Kristen Thoreson leads the chemical research and product development program at REGENESIS. She is trained as a chemist, and her graduate and post-doctorate research focused on mechanistic investigations of chlorinated ethene degradation pathways using molecular models and compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) for both biotic and abiotic systems. She obtained her BSc in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, and her PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Minnesota. She also spent time as a postdoctoral associate at the Helmholtz Zentrum in Munich, Germany as a part of the Research Unit for Environmental Organic Isotope Chemistry.
Scott Wilson, REGENESIS, San Clemente, CA
Scott Wilson is CEO of REGENESIS, a global leader in the development of technologies for the restoration of contaminated land. Patented technologies developed by REGENESIS have been used in the restoration of over 18,000 environmental project sites worldwide. The majority of Mr. Wilson’s 30 year career has focused on technology development/commercialization activities in the fields of microbial enhanced oil recovery, industrial wastewater, and environmental remediation. Prior to joining REGENESIS he held the position of Vice President of Remediation Technology at Groundwater Technology, Inc. where he was responsible for technology development and transfer throughout the global organization. For nearly a decade Mr. Wilson lectured on behalf of the National Water Well Association (now NGWA) on the topic of groundwater remediation. He remains a frequent contributor to conferences/symposia on topics related to innovative technologies. Mr. Wilson holds a M.S. in Applied Microbiology (related to geochemistry/petroleum engineering) from University Texas at El Paso, and a MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.
