Injection of mixtures into subterranean formations
First Claim
1. A method for remediating underground contamination, comprising the steps of:
- extending a flow line into an elongate hole extending below the surface of the earth, wherein the flow line defines a passage that extends below the surface of the earth, the flow line further defines an outlet from the passage that is below the surface of the earth and communicates with the hole, and the flow line further defines an inlet to the passage;
forcing a fluid into the inlet so that the fluid flows out of the outlet to form a fracture below the surface of the earth, wherein the fluid flows into the fracture and contains at least a remediating material that is operative while within the fracture to remediate underground contamination; and
directing the fluid with a member proximate to the outlet and extending away from the outlet.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This invention relates to an environmental engineering process for injecting a mixture into the ground to act as a containment barrier for fluids or gases or to act as in situ waste remediation process. The process involves pumping a mixture into the ground so that the mixture penetrates from the injection source(s), to form overlapping and/or intersecting horizontal or vertical planar geometries. Control of the geometry of the propagating fracture is made by the down hole outlet design and by interactively modifying mixture composition, injection pressures and flow rates, according to the sequential calculation of the in situ injected geometry by an inverse or tomographic method from monitored response of detection devices.
107 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method for remediating underground contamination, comprising the steps of:
-
extending a flow line into an elongate hole extending below the surface of the earth, wherein the flow line defines a passage that extends below the surface of the earth, the flow line further defines an outlet from the passage that is below the surface of the earth and communicates with the hole, and the flow line further defines an inlet to the passage; forcing a fluid into the inlet so that the fluid flows out of the outlet to form a fracture below the surface of the earth, wherein the fluid flows into the fracture and contains at least a remediating material that is operative while within the fracture to remediate underground contamination; and directing the fluid with a member proximate to the outlet and extending away from the outlet. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20)
-
-
4. The method of 2, wherein:
-
the outlet is a first outlet and the flow line further defines a second outlet through which fluid flows; and the vane at least partially separates the first outlet from the second outlet.
-
-
11. The method of 1, wherein:
-
the flow line is a first flow line, the passage is a first passage, the outlet is a first outlet, and the inlet is a first inlet; and the method further comprises the steps of; extending a second flow line into the hole, wherein the second flow line defines a second passage that extends below the surface of the earth, the second flow line further defines a second outlet from the second passage that is below the surface of the earth and communicates with the hole, and the second flow line further defines a second inlet to the second passage; and forcing the fluid into the second inlet so that the fluid flows out of the second outlet; and the member at least partially separates the first outlet from the second outlet. - View Dependent Claims (17, 19)
-
- 12. The method of 11, wherein the member is a first member and the method further comprises a step of directing the fluid with a second member proximate to the second outlet and extending away from the second outlet.
-
16. A method for remediating underground contamination, comprising the steps of:
-
forcing a mixture into a passage that extends below the surface of the earth; and providing an outlet from the passage below the surface of the earth, so that the mixture flows from the passage to form a fracture in the earth, wherein the mixture flows into the fracture and contains at least a material selected from materials having adsorptive or absorptive properties, so that the mixture within the fracture is available to remediate underground contamination.
-
-
18. A method for remediating underground contamination comprising the steps of:
-
forcing fluid from a source into a fracture in the ground so that the fracture propagates, wherein the fluid contains at least a remediating material that is operative while within the fracture to remediate underground contamination; and monitoring the propagation of a fracture in the ground to quantify the extent of the remediating material in the ground, comprising the steps of; energizing at least one electrode proximate to the source; and monitoring a plurality of electrical probes that are in electrical communication with ground to at least partially determine the propagation of the fracture.
-
Specification