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Single-Phase Microemulsification of a Complex Light-Nonaqueous-Phase-Liquid: Laboratory Evaluation of Several Mixtures of Surfactant/Alcohol Solutions

Soil and Water Science Dep., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611;

Michael D. Annable

Dep. of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

^* Corresponding author (pscr{at}gnv.ifas.ufl.edu).

ABSTRACT

A recent advance in conventional pump-and-treat technology for aquifer remediation involves the use of surfactant-alcohol mixtures that will form a clear, transparent, thermodynamically stable oil-in-water microemulsion on contact with a residual non-aqueousphase-liquid (NAPL). An initial screening of 86 commercial-grade surfactants for aqueous solubility resulted in selection of 58 that were further tested in batch experiments to evaluate the capacity to solubilize a complex NAPL waste collected from a Superfund site (Operable Unit OU-1) at Hill AFB, UT. The selected group of 58 surfactants represented six classes of anionic, nine classes of nonionic, and one class of amphoteric surfactants. Batch studies on NAPL solubilization identified a number of surfactants suitable for use in the field demonstration phase of the project; a further criterion in surfactant selection was that the flushing solution had a viscosity <2 cp. The best surfactants among this group had HLB (hydrophilic-lipophilic balance) values between 12 and 13, and solubilized 10 to 20 g L^–1 of the OU-1 NAPL when the surfactant concentration was 3%. Column tests using NAPL-coated glass beads showed that the more efficient surfactants could remove >90% of the NAPL after flushing with <10 pore volumes. Brij 97, an ethoxylated alcohol ether surfactant, showed a high capacity for solubilizing the OU-1 NAPL. In a column test using contaminated Hill AFB aquifer material, flushing with a mixture of 3% Brij 97 and 2.5% n-pentanol removed essentially all of the mass of nine target analytes in the NAPL after flushing with <10 pore volumes without mobilizing the NAPL or destabilizing aquifer colloids.