Low temperature thermal treatment
A system for the low-temperature remediation of a target volume comprised of at least one material, the system comprising: one or more heaters, wherein the one or more heaters are configured to connect to a power source and emit heat into their surrounding area at substantially uniform rates and the one or more heaters are at least partially embedded into the target area: a power control and monitoring system configured to deliver voltage and current to the one or more heaters at a substantially uniform rate; and a power source configured to deliver voltage and current to the power control and monitoring system for distribution.
1 . A system for low-temperature remediation of a target volume comprised of at least one material, the system comprising:
a plurality of heaters, wherein the plurality of heaters are configured to connect to a power source and emit heat into their surrounding area at substantially uniform rates relatively slowly and the plurality of heaters are at least partially embedded into the target volume and wherein the plurality of heaters are configured to heat the target volume below the volatilization point of at least one contaminant but sufficient to enhance biotic and abiotic destruction or mineralization of the at least one contaminant;
a power control and monitoring system configured to deliver voltage and current to the plurality of heaters at a substantially uniform rate; and
the power source wherein the power source is configured to deliver voltage and current to the power control and monitoring system for distribution.
2 . The system of claim 1 , the system further comprising a temperature monitoring system comprised of one or more sensors and a processing system comprised of at least one computer processor configured to receive data from the one or more sensors.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the computer processor of the processing system is communicably linked to a data input source and is further configured to receive data from the input source.
4 . The system of claim 3 , the system further comprised of a computer memory communicably coupled to the computer processor and configured to store information including at least:
data received by the one or more sensors of the temperature monitoring system; data regarding volatilization temperature of at least one contaminant; and data regarding heating scheduling.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the computer processor of the processing system is communicably linked to at least one data output configured to output data sent by the computer processor.
6 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the power control and monitoring station is configured to modify the current and/or voltage sent to at least one of the one or more heaters based on data received from the one or more sensors.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein there are a plurality of heaters and they are inserted into the target volume in a pattern configured to substantially maximize uniformity of heat distribution.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the heaters are comprised of an electric input and electric output and are configured to generate heat through the electric current running through the heater from the power source.
9 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the target volume is located in a container or constructed pile.
10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the container or pile is configured to be sealed from a surrounding area.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heaters generate no more than 200 watts per foot and reach no greater than 200 degrees Celsius.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein a maximum heating temperature of the plurality of heaters is configured to be below a volatility threshold of the at least one contaminant of the target volume based on the volatilization temperature of the at least one contaminant.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heaters are comprised of a power input, power output, and heating components.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the target volume is located in a container.
15 . A method for the low-temperature remediation of contaminants in a target volume comprised of at least one material, the method comprising:
determining a volatile temperature of at least one of the at least one material in the target volume;
determining an optimum temperature at which a contaminant in the at least one material in the target volume's degradation will be accelerated where such optimum temperature is below the boiling point of water where the target volume is being remediated;
inserting a plurality of heaters into the target volume and wherein the plurality of heaters are configured to heat the target volume below the volatilization point of at least one contaminant but sufficient to enhance biotic and abiotic destruction or mineralization of the at least one contaminant;
inserting one or more temperature sensors into one or more points in target volume wherein the one or more temperature sensors are configured to send temperature data to a central control unit;
connecting the plurality of heaters to a power supply capable of delivering sufficient current and voltage to the heater and configured to be monitored from a power monitoring system;
activating the heater such that it emits heat into the target volume;
monitoring the temperature of the one or more points of the target volume;
reducing the heat emitted by the heater if the temperature of one or more points of the target volume exceeds a volatile temperature of at least one of the at least one materials in the target volume or the optimum temperature;
deactivating the heater after a specified interval;
repeating the steps of activating the heater through reducing the heat emitted by the heater until the contaminant in the target volume have been remediated.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein a plurality of heaters are used during the inserting step and the heaters are arranged in a pattern configured to maximize uniform heat distribution of the heaters.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the connecting step is accomplished by using at least one solar panel.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the method comprises the additional step of determining a heating duration based on a degradation property of the contaminant of the target volume.
19 . The method of claim 15 , the target volume is divided into one or more sub-volumes and the steps of inserting the plurality of heaters and one or more temperature sensors are repeated in each sub-volume.
20 . A system for the low-temperature remediation of a target volume comprised of at least one material, located at a location, and contaminated by at least one substance, the system comprising:
a plurality of low output, low temperature heaters, wherein the heaters are configured to connect to a power source and emit heat into their surrounding area at substantially slow, uniform rates below the boiling point of water at the location of the target volume and the plurality of heaters are substantially embedded into the target volume and arranged to provide substantial uniformity of heating throughout the target volume at an amount that will increase the degradation of the at least one substance contaminating the target volume and wherein the plurality of heaters are configured to heat the target volume below the volatilization point of at least one contaminant but sufficient to enhance biotic and abiotic destruction or mineralization of the at least one contaminant;
a power control and monitoring system configured to deliver voltage and current to the plurality of heaters at a substantially uniform rate;
the power source configured to deliver voltage and current to the power control and monitoring system for distribution;
a temperature monitoring system comprised of a plurality of temperature sensors and at least one temperature monitoring device wherein the plurality of temperature sensors are substantially embedded in the target volume at positions to ascertain a plurality of temperatures in the target volume; and
a control system that is communicably coupled to the temperature monitoring system and the power control and monitoring system, wherein the control system is further configured to control the flow of power to the plurality of heaters and output data from the temperature monitoring system.