Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/11844
Title: Fluidized-bed adsorption bioreactor for the treatment of groundwater contaminated with solvents at low concentration
Authors: Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (U.S.)
U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station
Miyares, Paul H.
Teeter, Cynthia V.
Martel, Courtland James
Keywords: Bioremediation
Bioreactors
Groundwater
Groundwater pollution
Groundwater contamination
Groundwater purification
Trichloroethylene (TCE)
Publisher: Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)
Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.: Special report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 99-1.
Description: Special Report
Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major source of water contamination in the U.S. They pose a threat to the environment and are a potential hazard to human health. Trichloroethylene (TCE) is the most common of these pollutants. TCE is usually remediated through pumping and treating it, using either air stripping or granular activated carbon. Bioremediation is an alternative treatment that uses microbes to convert hazardous substances into nonhazardous compounds. A fluidized bed adsorption bioreactor is examined here for the treatment of groundwater contaminated at low concentrations. This pilot study showed that the packed adsorbent bed could be loaded in approximately 36 hours at a flow rate of 120 mL/min. The remediation phase of the process took approximately 13 days. The reduction in the TCE concentration in the sorbent during each round indicated that it was being remediated by the microbiological process. Areas that need to be improved are the rate of remediation and the loading capacity of the adsorption beds. Currently, each complete cycle of loading and remediating requires 2 weeks while only mineralizing 58 mg of TCE per column.
Rights: Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11681/11844
Appears in Collections:Special Report

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