In-Situ Chemical Reduction (ISCR): The Core Concepts and Their Engineering Implications

First broadcast: September 19, 2018

Speakers: Paul Tratnyek, PhD Professor, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)

In this webinar we are pleased to have a special guest presentation by Paul Tratnyek, PhD, Professor in the Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems (EBS) and Institute of Environmental Health (IEH), at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). In this presentation he discusses in situ chemical reduction (ISCR), specifically with regard to its core concepts and their engineering implications. Recent groundwater remediation studies demonstrating that there can be an abiotic component to natural attenuation, together with the proliferation of remediation technologies like zero-valent iron, has led to the emergence of a general class of groundwater treatment processes known as “in situchemical reduction” (ISCR). As the field of ISCR matures, it is developing “core concepts” that link fundamental understanding of the controlling processes to technology performance in the field.

This webinar features discussion of:

• Exploration of several core conceptual issues related to ISCR
• How oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is related to dechlorination rates
• What controls the amount of intermediate “stall” dechlorination products like dichloroethene and vinyl chloride

About the presenter:

Paul Tratnyek, PhD
Professor, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
Dr. Paul Tratnyek is Professor in the Division of Environmental and Biomolecular Systems (EBS) and Institute of Environmental Health (IEH), at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). He received his PhD in Applied Chemistry from the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in 1987; served as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Laboratory in Athens, GA (ERD-Athens) during 1988; and as a Research Associate at the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG) from 1989 to 1991.

Dr. Tratnyek’s research concerns the physico-chemical processes that control the fate and effects of environmental substances, including minerals, metals (for remediation), organics (as contaminants), and nanoparticles (for remediation, as contaminants, and in biomedical applications). Dr. Tratnyek is best known for his work on the degradation of groundwater contaminants with zero-valent metals, but his interests extend to all aspects of contaminant reduction and oxidation (redox) in all aquatic media. Some of his recent work emphasizes the fate/remediation of emerging contaminants (e.g., nanoparticles and 1,2,3-trichloropropane) and next generation energetic compounds (e.g., DNAN).