You are here:
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY: PILOT-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF A TWO-STAGE METHANOTROPHIC BIOREACTOR FOR BIODEGRADATION OF TRICHLOROETHENE IN GROUNDWATER
Citation:
Dobbins, D. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY SUMMARY: PILOT-SCALE DEMONSTRATION OF A TWO-STAGE METHANOTROPHIC BIOREACTOR FOR BIODEGRADATION OF TRICHLOROETHENE IN GROUNDWATER. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/540/S-93/505, 1993.
Impact/Purpose:
to inform the public
Description:
BioTrol, Inc., developed a two-stage, methanotrophic, bioreactor system for remediation of water contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chlorinated, volatile, aliphatic hydrocarbons. The first stage was a suspended-growth culture vessel with a bubbleless methane transfer device. The second stage was a plug-flow reactor fed with contaminated groundwater and effluent from the culture vessel. The syste was tested at bench- and pilot-scale. When operating optimally, 89% of the influent TCE was degraded. Reactor kinetics were consistent with first-order biodegradation kinetics. Actual methane use in the pilot-scale reactor resulted in projected methane costs of $0.33 per 1000 gal of water treated. This cost could be reduced by modifications to the system. Calculated theoretical minimum methane costs were <$0.05 per 1000 gal. Variability in the degree of TCE degradation and difficulty in maintaining the activity of the microbial culture during continuous operation were noted. Sustained use of the technology will require modifications to culture conditions. This Summary was developed by EPA's Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH, to announce key findings of the SITE Emerging Technology program that is fully documented in a separate report (EPA/540/R-93/505).