초록 ▼

There is provided a bio-remediation system and a method associated therewith for remediating a spilled hydrocarbon-based fluid from soil effectively and without causing migration of the fluid to previously uncontaminated areas. The bio-remediation system removes hydrocarbon-based fluid from a subter

There is provided a bio-remediation system and a method associated therewith for remediating a spilled hydrocarbon-based fluid from soil effectively and without causing migration of the fluid to previously uncontaminated areas. The bio-remediation system removes hydrocarbon-based fluid from a subterranean location using microbes which are immersed in a nutrient-rich medium. The microbes biologically remediate the hydrocarbon-based fluid by consuming the hydrocarbon-based fluid. The bio-remediation system ensures that the microbes and the nutrient-rich medium do not extend below the water table thus producing further contamination by monitoring moisture levels and levels of respiratory gases in the soil. When the microbes descend too deep, an air pump is actuated to dry a buffer zone between the water table and the spilled hydrocarbon-based fluid, thus halting progression of the microbes in the nutrient-rich medium.

대표청구항 ▼

A bio-remediation system for removing of hydrocarbon-based fluid from a subterranean location having a water table defined therein, the hydrocarbon-based fluid being biologically remediable by microbes which consume the hydrocarbon-based fluid when in the presence of a nutrient-rich medium, the bio-

A bio-remediation system for removing of hydrocarbon-based fluid from a subterranean location having a water table defined therein, the hydrocarbon-based fluid being biologically remediable by microbes which consume the hydrocarbon-based fluid when in the presence of a nutrient-rich medium, the bio-remediation system ensuring that the nutrient-rich medium does not extend below the water table, the bio-remediation system comprising a shaft bored from a land surface into the subterranean location and having a base disposed at a distal end of the shaft; a plurality of moisture sensors adapted to sense moisture in the subterranean location where the plurality of moisture sensors are placed at varying depths relative to the land surface and the plurality of moisture sensors are adapted to produce a moisture signal indicative of a quantity of the moisture; gas sensing means disposed at the base of the shaft for measuring one or more respiratory gases from environmental gases, the gas sensing means being adapted to produce a gas signal indicative of a quantity of the one or more respiratory gases; an air pump disposed at the land surface and extending into the shaft to create a vacuum therein such that the environmental gases and the moisture are drawn from the base of the shaft, the air pump having an inoperative mode and an operative mode where the inoperative mode allows the microbes and nutrient-rich medium to migrate deeper into the subterranean location and the operative position draws the environmental gases and moisture into the shaft to create a moisture barrier substantially free of the microbes and nutrient-rich medium; and processing means in electrical communication with the plurality of moisture sensors, the gas sensing means and the air pump to switch the air pump between the operative position and the inoperative position in response to the plurality of the moisture signal and the gas signal.