Check out Vancouver-based Sonic Environmental Solutions Inc., which has a patented process that uses sonic energy to clean contaminated soil.

Decontaminating soil is usually an energy-intensive process, but Sonic Environmental’s approach doesn’t require nearly as much electricity to produce the low-frequency sonic energy needed to clean soil. Here’s a brief description that appears on the company’s Web site:

“The company has commercial scale sonic generators that have been thoroughly proven in operation and has completed tests to demonstrate that our first Sonoprocess for the remediation of PCB-continamed soils will meet regulatory requirements for non-harzardous soil disposal or use.

“The company’s sonic generators produce extremely intense agitation via low frequency sonic energy. This is accomplished using a steel bar vibrating at its natural resonance frequency… The vibrational sonic energy from the bar is transmitted to chambers through which fluid materials or slurries can be pumped. The materials are thus subjects to very intense sonic agitation which has the effect of speeding up reactions and making them more complete.”

This is a company to watch closely, keeping in mind that the market for soil decontamination is worth billions of dollars. Its first plant in Delta, B.C., is nearly built. This spring it will begin cleaning up 3,000 tons of soil containing PCBs.

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