Contaminated Aquifer Material Research Articles

95/01141 Desorption of organic pollutants (PAHs) from contaminated aquifer materials

95/01141 Desorption of organic pollutants (PAHs) from contaminated aquifer materials

Methanogenic degradation kinetics of phenolic compounds in aquifer-derived microcosms

In this segment of a larger multidisciplinary study of the movement and fate of creosote derived compounds in a sand-and-gravel aquifer, we present evidence that the methanogenic degradation of the major biodegradable phenolic compounds and concomitant microbial growth in batch microcosms derived from contaminated aquifer material can be described using Monod kinetics. Substrate depletion and bacterial growth curves were fitted to the Monod equations using nonlinear regression analysis. The method of Marquardt was used for the determination of parameter values that best fit the experimental data by minimizing the residual sum of squares. The Monod kinetic constants (μ max , K s, Y, and k d) that describe phenol, 2-, 3-, and 4-methylphenol degradation and concomitant microbial growth were determined under conditions that were substantially different from those previously reported for microcosms cultured from sewage sludge. The K s values obtained in this study are approximately two orders of magnitude lower than values obtained for the anaerobic degradation of phenol in digesting sewage sludge, indicating that the aquifer microorganisms have developed enzyme systems that are adapted to low nutrient conditions. The values for k d are much less than μ max, and can be neglected in the microcosms. The extremely low Y values, approximately 3 orders of magnitude lower than for the sewage sludge derived cultures, and the very low numbers of microorganisms in the aquifer derived microcosms suggest that these organisms use some unique strategies to survive in the subsurface environment.

Biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons by aquifer microorganisms under denitrifying conditions

A series of laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate whether denitrification would be a suitable alternative for biorestoration of an aquifer contaminated with JP-4 jet fuel. Microcosms were prepared from both uncontaminated and contaminated aquifer material from the site, in an anaerobic glovebox, amended with nitrate, nutrients, and aromatic hydrocarbons, and incubated under a nitrogen atmosphere at 12C. With uncontaminated core material, there was no observable lag period prior to removal of toluene whereas 30 days was required before biodegradation commenced for xylenes, ethylbenzene, and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. An identical test with contaminated aquifer material exhibited not only much longer lag periods but decreased rates of biodegradation; benzene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene were not significantly degraded within the 6-month time period even though active denitrification occurred at this time. First-order biodegradation rate constants ranged from 0.016 to 0.38 day{sup {minus}1} for uncontaminated core material and from 0.022 to 0.067 day{sup {minus}1} for contaminated core material. Tests with individual compounds in uncontaminated core indicated that benzene and m-xylene inhibited the basal rate of denitrification. These data demonstrate that several aromatic compounds can be degraded under denitrifying conditions, but rates of biodegradation may be lower in material contaminated with JP-4 jet fuel.