Abstracts

“PFAS Soil Treatment Using Thermal Conduction Heating” by Dr. Emily Crownover (ER23-8369)

This project evaluates the use of thermal conduction heating (TCH) as a scalable, on-site solution for treating PFAS-impacted soil at DoD installations. Transport of PFAS from soil to groundwater can result in persistent groundwater plumes, and with infrastructure upgrades often requiring soil excavation, practical treatment options are critical. ESTCP funded this demonstration of ex situ thermal treatment using TCH at a commercial scale at JBER. This presentation will highlight system performance and discuss the potential of TCH as a cost-effective alternative to off-site disposal.

“Mobile STARxpress Smoldering System for On Site Treatment of PFAS-Impacted Soil” by Ms. Laura Kinsman (ER23-8373)

This project demonstrated a mobile, rapidly deployable treatment unit (STARxpress) designed to destroy PFAS in impacted soils using smoldering combustion at JBER. Smoldering is an energy efficient, flameless form of combustion that can achieve PFAS destruction temperatures directly within the impacted soil using low concentrations of a supplementary fuel (e.g., anthracite or spent granular activated carbon). The two-unit STARxpress system treated 440 cubic yards of PFAS-impacted soil at JBER in 10 batches, with all batches meeting Alaska cleanup levels for PFOS and PFOA, and some achieving levels below detection limits. This presentation will provide an overview of the smoldering process, system design, and demonstration results.

“Mobile Remediation System: On-Site Thermal Soil Treatment” by Mr. Liam Zsolt (ER23-8378)

This project demonstrated ACES' Mobile Remediation System (MRS-1), a two-stage on-site soil treatment unit that first uses electric induction to desorb PFAS from impacted soils, followed by thermal plasma oxidation to destroy PFAS in the vapor phase. The ESTCP demonstration evaluated the system’s performance and applicability as a mobile treatment option for PFAS-impacted sites. This presentation will detail the technology’s design, field deployment, and demonstration results – highlighting its potential as a valuable remediation tool for military installations.

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Emily Crownover is a Managing Principal Engineer at TRS in St. Charles, Missouri. Emily started her research career in 2005 and joined TRS in 2014. She has served as a principal investigator on an ESTCP project in partnership with DIU at JBER, and as a technical lead for two additional ESTCP-funded research projects, all focused on applying thermal conduction heating for PFAS treatment. During her active leadership of TRS’s research and development program, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Emily and TRS numerous patents in thermal remediation technologies and optimization processes. Her current research focus areas include remediation of emerging compounds (primarily PFAS) and applying heat to the subsurface to enhance abiotic and biotic processes. Emily received her doctoral degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Ms. Laura Kinsman is a Senior Professional at Savron based in Toronto, Canada, with over 13 years of experience researching and implementing smoldering remediation. Since 2014, Laura has supported system design, field operations, and project management at Savron sites across North America and Asia, including pilot testing and full-scale applications of both in situ and ex situ smoldering remediation. Laura has served as project manager or PFAS technical lead on several projects funded by SERDP, ESTCP, and the Air Force Civil Engineering Center focusing on scale-up and field demonstration of the smoldering technology for treating PFAS-impacted soil and spent media. She received her master’s degree in engineering science studies at Western University under the direction of the co-inventors of the smoldering technology.

Liam Zsolt is the Director of Innovation and Technology for ASRC Energy Services, where he leads product development in the Arctic energy and environmental remediation industries. Liam’s team develops and commercializes innovative technologies and approaches to address PFAS impacts. Liam’s team developed and commercialized ACES’ Mobile Remediation System. His 13-year career in Alaska’s energy industry has focused on operations management, innovation, product development, and technology commercialization. Liam’s work has been published multiple times and is a named inventor on patented and patent-pending technologies in the fields of nondestructive testing, oilwell interventions, and environmental remediation. He received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from McGill University.