Case Studies - AL002 - Pneumatic Fracturing

Manufacturing Facility - Huntsville, AL

Project Summary

Pneumatic fracturing was used to increase the hydraulic conductivity of a formation consisting of a gravelly clay at a manufacturing facility where groundwater was impacted by TCE. The gravelly clay zones were saturated and locally interconnected. However, the overall hydraulic connection throughout the various zones was limited. Pneumatic Fracturing was applied to increase the connection throughout the aquifer, and thus reduce the number of recovery wells required for remediation. The groundwater remediation system has been installed and is operating.

Based upon pre fracture and post fracture slug testing, the hydraulic conductivity of the formation increased by as much as 8.4 times in wells which were pneumatically fractured, and up to 9.6 times in adjacent monitoring wells. Field observations and post-fracture water level data indicated that the Pneumatic Fracturing process was effective in increasing the conductivity of the treatment zone. This reduced the number of remediation wells required on site, resulting in substantial savings on installation costs.

HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY SUMMARY:

Slug Tests - Bouwer and Rice Method
Falling Head Tests
Well Name
Pre-Fracture (cm/sec)
Post-Fracture (cm/sec)
Increase
PE-26
7.00E-06
6.10E-05
+8.71X
PE-27
2.10E-06
7.00E-06
+3.33X
PE-28
8.50E-06
2.30E-05
+2.71X
PE-29
2.00E-06
1.50E-05
+7.50X
PE-1
7.80E-07
7.60E-06
+9.74X
PE-3
2.50E-06
1.20E-05
+4.80X

 

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