Steam stripping is the most often proposed means of treating oil shale wastewaters for the removal of ammonia and carbon dioxide. The removal of organic carbon generally is not an objective. This manual compares current steam stripper design theory with actual operating data reported in the literature and concludes that discrepancies exist between theory and actual practice. Although this manual is by no means a complete literature review on the more detailed subject of mass transfer, references are provided so that the reader can explore the subject material more closely. The primary intent of the manual is to give the operator a brief overview of the chemical and physical principles underlying the steam stripping process. Sufficient information is provided so that the operator can understand how the LBL/SEEHRL experimental-scale steam stripper was designed to be operated. Start-up procedures are detailed, and modifications required to improve performance are presented. Included are notes outlining periodic maintenance procedures for mechanical parts, protocols for the reduction of data, notes on the methods of chemical analysis, and the calculations used for mass balances. 66 references, 16 figures, 21 tables.