Air stripping

Air stripping is the transferring of volatile components of a liquid into an air stream. It is an environmental engineering technology used for the purification of groundwaters and wastewaters containing volatile compounds.

Volatile compounds have relatively high vapor pressure and low aqueous solubility characterized by the compound’s Henry's law coefficient, which is the ratio of the concentration in air that is in equilibrium with its concentration in water. Pollutants with relatively high Henry’s Law coefficients can be economically stripped from water. These include BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene found in gasoline), and solvents including trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Ammonia can also be stripped from wastewaters and liquid digestates (often requiring pH adjustment prior to stripping). Since Henry’s law coefficient increases with temperature, stripping is easier at warmer temperatures.