Pilot plant investigations of thermal remediation of tar-contaminated soil and oil-contaminated gravel

Pilot plant studies were conducted to assess the feasibility of remediation of coal tar-contaminated soil and oil-contaminated gravel by incineration in a fluidized bed combustor and the same equipment converted to a calciner, with environmentally acceptable performance. Besides adequate decontamination and emission control, effort was devoted to treat the special feedstocks with difficult handling properties by use of the conventional combustion and feeding systems. Combustor modeling of the incineration process was carried out to estimate the decontamination performance in targeted operations using experimental data. Analysis of the results showed that satisfactory decontamination of the soil and gravel could be achieved and the emission of pollutants in the flue gas could be effectively controlled. Recovery of heat energy from the incinerated material was also considered.