A -- ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION: IN-SITU GROUND WATER BARRIER

Notice Date

December 17, 2001

Contracting Office

Battelle, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL), P.O. Box 999, (MSIN K3-04), Richland, WA 99352

ZIP Code

99352

Solicitation Number

10887

Response Due

April 1, 2002

Point of Contact

Licensing, Technology Commercialization, 902 Battelle Boulevard, P.O. Box 999, MSIN: K9-89, Richland, Washington 99352 [Phone: 509-375-6401] [e-mail: technology@pnl.gov]

E-Mail Address

Click here to send an e-mail to a Licensing Associate (technology@pnl.gov)

Description

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy, solicits interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology (hereinafter referred to as "technology"). License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. PNNL may also be available to licensee(s) to assist in further research and development of the technology under a sponsored research agreement or CRADA program. This technology describes an innovative approach to forming a barrier to reducible contaminants by injecting a suspension of metallic-Fe colloids in the flow path of the contaminant plume. These contaminants are especially mobile in the subsurface environment due to their ability to evade the retarding capabilities of most geological materials. They include oxyanions (e.g., CrO4-2, N03-1, and SeO4-2), oxycations (e.g., U02+2 and NpO2+2), non-ionic halogenated hydrocarbons, and polycyclic biphenyl (PCBs). The barrier could be placed in saturated or unsaturated environments as well as in horizontal or vertical orientations. Unlike other in-situ mitigating barriers in which enormous volumes of geological material must be either mixed or excavated to form a trench, this technology only requires that a series of temporary wells be installed. This greatly reduces the cost of barrier emplacement and greatly expands the depth to which this technology can be used. To form the chemical barrier, colloids would be injected into one well while a nearby second well, located perpendicular to the flow path of the contaminant plume, extracts groundwater, thereby drawing colloids toward the desired direction. The second well would then be used as an injection well while a third well, in line with the first and second, would be used to draw colloids in its direction. This process would continue until the colloidal barrier had been formed across the flow path of the contaminant plume. The barrier thickness will vary according to the contaminant and the environmental conditions and can easily be controlled by a number of factors including injection rate, colloid size, and aqueous phase chemistry (pH, ionic strength, colloid-suspending agents, and type of surfactant: all environmentally friendly constituents). Details have been published: "Retention of Zero-valent Iron Colloids by Sand Columns: Application to Chemical Barrier Formation", Kaplan et al., J. Environmental Quality, 1996, 25, 1086-1094. "Injection of Colloidal Fe Particles in Sand with Shear-Thinning Fluids", Cantrell et al., J. Environmental Engineering, August 1997, 786. "Zero-valent Iron Colloid Emplacement in Sand Columns", Cantrell and Kaplan, J. Environmental Engineering, May 1997, 499. US Patent No. 5,857,810. Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Any company interested in licensing this technology must respond with a letter of interest (may be submitted by e-mail) no later than 30 days from the publication date of this Notice summarizing the company's business and technical expertise and motivation for pursuing this opportunity. Companies deemed appropriate will be provided with further information on the technology. Such information may require an executed Nondisclosure Agreement. Respondents wishing to enter into negotiations for a commercial license will be required to submit a business plan for the commercialization of the technology prior to licensee selection and negotiations. Please send letters of interest to the attention of the POC identified within this Notice.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011219/ASOL007.HTM (W-351 SN5153E6)