Thermal desorption is a pollution treatment method that uses heat to remove contaminants from soil, sediment or sludge. This technique is often used to clean up sites contaminated by petroleum products, organic chemicals or heavy metals.
Thermal desorption works by heating contaminated soils or sediments to a high temperature, typically between 300 and 800 degrees Celsius. Contaminants vaporize at these high temperatures and are collected in an air treatment system for safe disposal.
The advantages of thermal desorption are that it is a fast and effective method of removing contaminants from soils and sediments. Thermal desorption is also useful for soils contaminated by petroleum products or organic chemicals in high concentrations, where other methods such as bioremediation may not be effective.
However, thermal desorption can have its drawbacks. The method can be costly due to the energy required to heat the soil or sediment. In addition, thermal desorption can damage soils by removing nutrients needed for plant growth. Finally, this method can produce toxic exhaust gases and by-products which must be treated safely to avoid air pollution or groundwater contamination.
Thermal desorption is an effective method for rapidly cleaning up sites contaminated by high concentrations of petroleum products or organic chemicals.
For in-situ or on-site remediation In-Situ or onsite remediation, other treatment methods can be used, such as controlled natural attenuation, biodegradation, biosparging, dual-phase extraction, flushing, chemical oxidation, pump and skim, pump and treat, chemical reduction, sparging or venting.