18 Jul The “Proof” of Quality is Longevity

The pictures are from the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, KY. The picture on the left is a view of racked barrels as one looks from the floor toward the ceiling. The picture is a view down a hallway. Aging is a key characteristic of bourbon.

In Kentucky, bourbon must age in a charred oak barrel. Flavor and mellowness are contingent upon time in the barrel. The allure of a bourbon like Pappy Van Winkle is its age, which may be as old as 23 years. No other elements of the bourbon production process can displace time in the barrel – longevity is inextricably bound to quality.

While we don’t “age” RPI products in barrels or otherwise, we are interested in longevity of a different kind. BOS 100® and CAT 100 persist in degrading halogenated compounds long after vegetable oils, ZVI (sulfonated and otherwise), and various other products have been consumed, passivated, or polished off. For in situ remediation products, longevity is inseparable from quality.

BOS 100® attains its quality through time in the furnace. A ZVI base is not mixed or soaked into the activated carbon. The ZVI is not somehow rattling around in the carbon or merely deposited on its surface. Metallic iron is fired at 850°C into the activated carbon under a reducing atmosphere. Iron and carbon become an inseparable molecular structure in the furnace with characteristics beyond that of activated carbon or ZVI. One of these characteristics is – longevity.

Having BOS 100® as its base, CAT 100 builds on the stability of BOS 100® by adding a microbial population that degrades the contaminants and preserves the metallic iron. This combination is a figurative double shot of endurance.

Longevity is a quality characteristic that saves your client money. The need for multiple installations of an in situ product due to poor durability is a quality problem that raises costs.

So, why select an in situ remedy that must be installed multiple times? The typical response is – low cost! But remedies that lack prolonged existence are only low in initial cost. In the long run, as mobilizations, reinstallations, and maintenance costs accrue, the project costs rise.

Regarding in situ remediation, longevity is quality.

Total CVOCs (Ethenes only) Versus Time – BOS 100® & CAT 100 shows longevity. The graph, moving from left to right, shows the activity of BOS 100 in a PRB application (Blue line) against an untreated area (Orange line). Total CVOCs have been contained and, thus, remediated for none (9) years. At approximately six years post-PRB installation, the area around the previous control (Orange line) was treated with CAT 100 by in situ injection. Total CVOCs have been restrained for about 3 years. The regulatory authority has placed the site in managed closure.

Featured Case Studies:

Accelerated CVOC Remediation Using BOS 100/ CAT 100 and DNAPL Treatment

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