VATIS UPDATE Article

Chemical engineers are using trenches and micro-organisms to help clean the frozen continent. Now, a team of engineers from the University of Melbourne (UM), Australia, is working to rectify this environmental damage. Dr Kathryn Mumford and her team have been working at Casey Station over the last decade on a project that uses chemical engineering processes to clean up fuel spillages and restore the Antarctic soil.

The team is using bioremediation techniques, in which naturally occurring micro-organisms are prompted – with the use of nutrients and oxygen – to degrade the fuel and break down the contaminants. One method the researchers have successfully employed is the use of permeable reactive barriers; trenches filled with reactive material that intercepts the fuel plume, captures the contaminant and stimulates micro-organisms within it to break down the fuel, thus remediating the soil and groundwater.

“Our work over the last 10 years in developing permeable reactive barrier designs suitable for Antarctic conditions has been highly successful. We have proven that the technology can be applied with confidence of the remediation outcomes. There are currently six operational permeable reactive barriers at Casey Station, with further installations planned for the coming season. Our work has also been incorporated into the Antarctic Clean-up Manual presented to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in 2015,” said Dr Mumford.