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W. Soon Kim <br /> Page 14 <br /> August 11, 1995 <br /> 102429.AS.T8 <br /> Figures 4 and 5 present best fit lines found by linear regression of the respiration rate test <br /> data. Respiration test data is presented in Table 4. The slope of these linear equations is the <br /> calculated oxygen up-take rate in mg/Uday for groundwater and percent concentration <br /> change per day for vadose zone soil gas. Figure 5 also presents the regression analysis of <br /> carbon dioxide concentration to describe the carbon dioxide production rate in percent/day. <br /> For piezometer NP-1-80 the dissolved oxygen up-take rate increased from -0.71 to -1.67 <br /> mg/L/day. For NP-1-90 the rate increased from-0.53 to -2.68. The initial dissolved oxygen <br /> concentration in the groundwater after blower shutdown increased from 4.5 and 3.5 mg/L last <br /> quarter to 6.5 each for NP-1-80 and NP-1-90 respectively. Greater dissolved oxygen up-take <br /> rates and increased dissolved oxygen in the groundwater are indicators of increased aerobic <br /> biodegradation activity andbetter oxygen distribution in the contaminated groundwater zone. <br /> Groundwater dissolved oxygen concentration and measurement times are attached. <br /> The slopes of best fit lines presented in Figure 5 indicate that the steady-state, soil-vapor <br /> oxygen concentration was higher in the shallow piezometer NP-2-45 than in the deeper NP-2- <br /> 65. The oxygen up-take rate was also greater at the shallow depth. Best fit lines are based on <br /> data excluding the first 60 minutes after blower shutdown to ensure that steady state <br /> conditions are evaluated. Carbon dioxide concentration was conversely greater in the deeper <br /> piezometer, and carbon.dioxide accumulates faster in the deeper piezometer NP-2-65. This is <br /> the first quarterly measurement of vadose zone biological respiration so no baseline data is <br /> available for comparison. <br /> In general terms,the decline in soil vapor oxygen,concentration and the rise in carbon dioxide <br /> are indicators of biological activity in the vadose zone. We could quantitatively correlate the <br /> oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production with the resultant gasoline mass <br /> biodegradation. <br /> Soil vapor oxygen concentrations less than 18.5 percent are considered rate limiting in an <br /> aerobic biological system. When most of the soil vapor oxygen is consumed, carbon dioxide <br /> conversion to methane begins with the onset of anaerobic biological activity. The initial <br /> oxygen concentration measure in.NP-2-65 on 8/4195 at 8:00 AM was 20.6 percent(i.e., nearly <br /> atmospheric oxygen). In the first 30 minutes after blower shutdown, oxygen concentration <br /> dropped to 8.8 percent. Carbon dioxide jumped in the same period from 0.5 to 5.8 percent. <br /> Without operation of the AS/SVE system, deep vadose zone conditions would quickly revert <br /> back to anaerobic conditions. <br /> BTEX Concentration in NP-1 <br /> Table 5 presents the BTEX results for the three piezometer depths 70',.80',and 90'. Since <br /> AS/SVE start up, BTEX concentrations have not decreased appreciably. Gasoline <br /> constituents that are being consumed by biodegradation and stripped by air sparging are <br />