The Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM) inaugurated this Monday in Orléans (Loiret) a simulator presented as unique in Europe, capable of better understanding the transfer of pollutants into the soil and of finding the means to remedy it. In France, there are more than 7,200 sites polluted by heavy metals, hydrocarbons, pesticides or solvents, according to the BRGM.
The PPM, our multi-metric pilot unique in Europe, is a tank of more than 120m3 designed to study, on a scale representative of reality, a polluted site.
Discover his installation ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/yTP3fldHju
This device is tall like a two or three story building. "The objective is to study under controlled conditions transfers of pollutants of all kinds with a view to depollution" of soils, sub-soils and groundwater, explained Christophe Mouvet, project manager, during the inauguration.
A tank of 150 cubic meters
The tool, called a multi-metric pilot (PPM) and installed within a research platform called PRIME, is a stainless steel tank more than ten meters long and four meters high, with a capacity of 150 Cubic meters. It is possible to conduct four experiments there simultaneously.
By filling the tank with contaminated materials taken from an industrial site, companies wishing to test a product or depollution method, universities or the BRGM, will thus be able to monitor the evolution of the pollutant in semi-natural conditions. "We want to verify that we have degraded the pollutant and recovered a quality of the subsoil and underground water which should be that of the environment before pollution by human activity", developed Christophe Mouvet.
These polluted sites constitute "an important issue (...) from a health and economic point of view," says the BRGM. The PRIME platform, which also brings together several BRGM laboratories on a smaller scale, cost 7.3 million euros, financed in part by BRGM, the Center-Val-de-Loire region, the State and the Union European.
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