Cleanup Technology

With a newly developed machine for repairing the substruction of existing railway tracks the recyclable basic ballast was also separated from the soil excavation and processed. The new roadbed cleaning combined a two-shear excavation procedure with components of a stationary cleaning method and two upstream cleaning stages (star filter, cone mill crusher). On the average 59 % of the excavated recyclable ballast could be cleaned and built again into the track bed. With the recycling machine installed on the track more than 1.4 m³ new ballast, 4 litres diesel fuel and 11 kg carbon dioxide discharge per meter of cleaned up track can be saved. Expand…

Permeable reactive barriers are currently considered one of the cheapest and most environmentally friendly techniques for the remediation and prevention of groundwater contamination. The website of the BMBF research association “Permeable reactive barriers for the remediation of contaminated sites” provides information on the demonstration projects. (Duration RUBIN II 2006 - 2009)

An object-oriented database system has been devised for the storage of measured data, together with associated evaluations and results, in a uniform format. Tools developed in the course of the project provide the option for the incorporation of simulators, either for the verification of test calculations or as a basis for further investigations. Expand…

A combined process for adsorption and simultaneous bioregeneration can be effectively regulated by the controlled dosage of auxiliary substrate, hydrogen peroxide and nitrate. The resulting process will show operational stability over prolonged periods, with an associated increase in the service life of activated carbon. Expand…

This patented water treatment process transforms the toxic compounds found in groundwater and industrial wastewater into harmless reaction products. The process employs the principal of wet oxidation without recourse to chemicals.

Environmental engineers tested a new process for the restoration of highly eutrophic lakes on the Burgsee in Bad Salzungen. The process, which employs a mobile unit to extract phosphate from the water, can be used to treat the water and the sediment layer at the same time.

The main objective of SAFIRA II is to develop and demonstrate techniques for the testing and remediation of very large-scale groundwater contamination.

The automated and continuously working luminous bacteria test used for assessment displayed a pronounced superiority over the classic intermittent method of monitoring. It is advised that supplementary biological or -as the case may be- environmental toxicological tests be performed in order to be able to achieve actual detoxification as well, by means of the decontamination. Expand…

Activated carbon filtration, a process associated with low technological risk, can be used for in situ removal of highly hydrophobic contaminants, providing a highly efficient method of decontamination. This technique is relatively inexpensive and simple to employ.
Expand…