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DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: EX-SITU ANAEROBIC BIOREMEDIATION SYSTEM: DINOSEB - J.R. SIMPLOT COMPANY
Citation:
Jackson, T. DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: EX-SITU ANAEROBIC BIOREMEDIATION SYSTEM: DINOSEB - J.R. SIMPLOT COMPANY. EPA/540/MR-94/508, 1994.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
The J.R. Simplot Ex-situ Anaerobic Bioremediation System is a technology designed to destroy nitroaromatic compounds without forming any toxic intermediates. The nitroaromatic compound of interest during this demonstration was dinoseb (2-sec-butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol) an agricultural herbicide used to defoliate potatoes and other legumes. (NOTE: A separate demonstration of this technology is being undertaken with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) as the contaminant of interest. The results of this demonstration will be reported independently.) The theory of operation behind the J.R. Simplot bioremediation process is that dinoseb-contaminated soils (or liquids) can be treated using an anaerobic consortium of soil microorganisms. Under aerobic conditions, degradation of dinoseb forms polymerization products that are potentially toxic. Anaerobic degradation of dinoseb takes place without the formation of these polymerization products. The J.R. Simplot technology mixes a carbon source with contaminated soil and then adds water and a phosphate buffer to create a slurry. This prompts aerobic microorganisms to consume the carbon source and oxygen, thus lowering the redox potential (Eh) of the slurry and creating anaerobic oanditions. Anaerobic microorganisms are then stimulated to consume toxins present in the slurry.