EXTERNAL EVALUATION COMMITTEE

  PURPOSE of the Meeting

To solicit a constructive evaluation from the Advisory Committee of the Combined Research / Curriculum Project in achieving the goals.

  GOALS

1)  Create a new in-situ groundwater/soil remediation technologies lecture course and a mesoscale laboratory facility
2)  Develop a participatory learning environment with remediation case studies being provided by industry and national
          laboratory participants
3)  The laboratory facility will contain equipment for experimentation at a range of scales (one-dimensional bench scale to
          three-dimensional mesoscale systems)
4)  Educational activities in the proposed facility will be supported by an interdisciplinary team of investigators, bringing
          expertise from Chemical, Environmental, and Geological Engineering
5)  The curriculum will be integrated into existing and new undergraduate and graduate curricula, and will realize direct
          benefits from ongoing and planned research activities

  Scientific / Curriculum Advisory Committee MEMBERS

Terry C. Hazen, Ph.D., Manager, Biotechnology Group
Environmental Sciences Section
Westinghouse Savannah River Company

Carl G. Enfield, Ph.D., Senior Research Environmental Scientist
Subsurface Protection and Remediation Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Richard M. Raetz, P.E., President
Global Remediation Technologies, Inc.

Louis J. Thibodeaux
Louisiana State University

Dale K. Wilson, Principal Engineering Specialist
Monsanto

Evan K. Nyer, Vice President (Absent at meeting)
Geraghty & Miller Inc.

  Advisory Committee Meeting AGENDA, October 9-11, 1996, MTU

October 9
Committee Members arrived in Houghton and checked into the hotel they would be staying in.
     Best Western Franklin Square Inn
     820 Shelden Avenue
     Houghton, MI 49931

October 10
Committee Members, Principle Investigators (Shonnard, Gierke, and Mayer), Neil Hutzler (Associate Dean, College of Engineering), and Bill Rose (Chair, Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences) met at the Best Western for breakfast.  After breakfast, the party traveled to the Subsurface Remediation Laboratory were they would spend the rest of the day.  First, the principle investigators gave presentations of the project goals (see above) and progress.  Next, a tour of the SRL facility was given.  Before lunch, presentations were given from the students participating in the subsurface remediation courses.  Graduate students participating were Prasanna Deshpande (Ph.D. candidate, chemical engineering), and Lirong Zhong (Ph.D. candidate, geological engineering).
After lunch, the advisory committee members gave presentations on current remediation projects.  Then, interviews for the students participating in the subsurface remediation courses were conducted by the committee members.  To end the day, a copper country tour was given ending at Fitzgerald’s Restaurant in Eagle River for dinner.

October 11
Only the advisory committee members met for breakfast in Room 201 of the Chemical Sciences Building.  They evaluated the project from the presentations of the previous day.  After this was completed, they discussed the evaluation with the principle investigators, Neil Hutzler, and Ed Fisher (Dean, College of Engineering).

Next anticipated advisory committee meeting: August, 1997 at MTU

  SUGGESTED CHANGES

LECTURE (CM496 / GE496)

Introduction / History of In-Situ Remediation (similar)...................(2 lectures)

Risk Assessment...........................................................................(1 lecture)

Regulations and Toxicity................................................................(1 lecture)

Chemical Transport and Transformation........................................(3 lectures) *

Flow and Transport of Remediation Fluids (similar)......................(3 lectures) *

Soil Vapor Extraction - SVE (similar)..........................................(3 lectures)

Air Sparging (same).....................................................................(2 lectures)

Soil Science Microbiology and Nutrient Cycling............................(2 lectures)

Enhanced Bioremediation (Bioventing / Biosparging)......................(5 lectures)

Electrokinetic Remediation (same)................................................(2 lectures)

Plume Capture / Hydraulic Controls (same)..................................(3 lectures)

Free Product Recovery (hydraulics and enhancements) (similar)...(2 lectures)

Final Wrap Up on Risk Assessment (similar)................................(1 lecture)

*  These classes should include a good sound understanding of lithologic and hydrogeologic environments, specifically, site lithology and its relationship to contaminant type/distribution within that environment.

Also, students need to understand natural attenuation and intrinsic bioremediation processes before beginning to select what type of system to design.

It would be beneficial to cover items such as Fence Gates, Slurry Walls and Capping.  The use of videos or some lecture material to cover well drilling technology types (rotary drilling, hollow stem augers, cable tool) would also be helpful.

LABORATORY (CM496 / GE496)

Week / Location                 Topic                                                                                      

  1 / Computer Labs                       Technology Selection Process
*  Addition - separate lab               QA / QC - Safety Equipment and Safety of the Work Environment at a Actual
                                                                        Facility and Within Your Mesoscale Laboratory
  2 / Computer Labs                       Air Permeability
*  Addition to Air Permeability Lab - Include Water Permeability
  3 / SRL                                        Soil Vapor Extraction Columns
  4 / SRL                                        Soil Vapor Extraction Design
*  Consider looking at SVE Columns and SVE Design in the same laboratory section (combining weeks 3 and 4)
  5 / SRL                                        Presentations/Air Sparging Demonstration
*  Suggested to move Presentations from week 5 to week 7 or 8 to give students better understanding of technologies
  6 / SRL                                        Solute and Colloid Transport Experiment
  7 / SRL                                        Biorespiration Parameters from Flask Experiments
  8 / SRL                                        Plume Capture
  9 / SRL                                        Non-aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Recovery
10 / SRL                                        Surfactant-Enhanced Mobilization/Dissolution

Including a section on Analytical Laboratory Equipment might also be helpful.

It was discussed that a project may be handed out at the very beginning of the term that talks about a request for proposal (RFP) where each student would be responsible for coming up with a conceptual design and associated cost for the design.  This would be handed in at the end of the term.

Consider having a second course more intensive than this that would be a graduate level course, getting into more detail of specific design activities.  Further ideas discussed included providing a very detailed understanding of each curricula (geological, geo-environmental, chemical, and environmental engineering) for the students at the end of their sophomore year.

Other suggestions included having one or two case studies presented by outside resources that would overview an entire project.

EQUIPMENT

Suggested that mesoscale laboratory be furnished with additional equipment including:  static water level data indicators, hand held photoionization detectros, field gas chromatographs, a monitor well sampling devise such as bailer or jack bails, and other items

Field Helium analyzer for tracer tests and in-situ respiration tests

Field oxygen, methane, and carbon dioxide analyzer for in-situ respiration test, landfill gas monitoring, and biological activity monitoring

Groundwater probe analysis for pH, DO, redox, conductivity, and temperature can be used for respiration tests and a variety of characterization studies

Flow sensors or vadose zone monitoring

Field VOC equipment for monitoring vadose zone wells and soil flux (fugitive emissions)

References

Letter of Recommended Changes from the Advisory Committee Members
Agenda and slides of Dr. Shonnard

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