Development of a fully suspended, multi‐stage bioreactor system for trichloroethylene degradation based on soluble monooxygenase cometabolism

Abstract

Abstract The design and operation of a pressurized dual‐staged continuous flow bioreactor for the biodegradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) is presented. The reactor was designed to maximize the utility of the enzyme soluble methane monooxygenase (sMMO) by the methanotroph, Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b (PP358), which can produce sMMO even in the presence of copper. Methane‐fed cell growth in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was decoupled from TCE oxidation in a methane‐free series of plug‐flow columns, minimizing competitive inhibition. The biomass concentrations were maximized by operating the reactor at 3.04 atm, increasing the gas‐phase solubility of methane, which increased the growth rate of the cells. Furthermore, washout of the reactor biomass in the continuous flow‐through system was minimized through the use of a tangential flow dewatering device. The biodegradative potential of the reactor was demonstrated by feeding TCE at concentrations of 0.2 mg/L and 1 mg/L at 2 mL/min. The TCE wa...