Vinyl Chloride (VC) is an industrial chemical often used in the production of polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and vinyl products. VC is one of the top twenty petrochemicals (petroleum-derived chemicals) in production. Vinyl chloride’s natural state is a gas with a sweet odor. VC is highly toxic, flammable, and carcinogenic.
VC can also be present in the subsurface as a breakdown product of other chlorinated compounds like tetrachloroethyene and trichloroethylene.
Applicable Remediation Technologies for Vinyl Chloride
Physical
Air Sparging: Excellent – As the vapor pressure is greater than 1 mm Hg, air sparging is an effective process for vinyl chloride in water.
SVE: Excellent – As the vapor pressure is greater than 1 mm Hg, soil vapor extraction is an effective process for vinyl chloride contamamination.
Thermal: Excellent – As vinyl chloride is already a highly volatile compound and will work with SVE at typical soil temperatures (see above), thermally enhanced SVE should be used when the VC is in low permeability material or short remediation time frames are required.
Pump and Treat: Excellent – Pump and treat can be an effective remedy for the remediation of VC, as minimal non-aqueous mass is usually present.
Chemical
In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO): Excellent – VC is oxidizable by all predominant ISCO technologies (permanganate, persulfate, peroxide, and ozone). Activation of the persulfate is often required to facilitate the kinetics. As vinyl chloride does not readily sorb to soils, injection strategies have to be developed to avoid spreading dissolved impacts beyond their original source area.
In Situ Chemical Reduction (ISCR): Excellent – ZVI has been successful at remediating VC in groundwater.
Biological
Aerobic: Excellent – VC can be directly oxidized via aerobic biodegradation pathways.
Anaerobic: Good to Poor – VC can be anaerobically degraded if the appropriate biological communities are present or if added (bioagumented). VC required highly reducing conditions to be degraded anaerobically. Therefore, VC is often found as a “stalled” byproduct when tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and/or trichloroethylene (TCE) are anaerobically reduced.
Absorption
Activated Carbon: Poor – VC does not absorb to activated carbon in quantities large enough to (generally) make this treatment technology cost effective.
Properties
Molecular weight (g/mole): 62.499
Solubility (mg/L): 8,800 mg/L
Vapor pressure (mm Hg): 2,980
Henry’s Coefficient (unitless): 1.1365495
Organic Carbon Partitioning Coefficient (cm3/g): 21.73