A study of the dissolution rate-limited bioremediation of soils contaminated by residual hydrocarbons
- Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Since many petroleum components are barely soluble in water, they are frequently present as nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in subsurface soils. Bioremediation of soils contaminated by such residual hydrocarbons appears to be cost-effective under various situations. More often than not, however, bioremediation can be rate-limited by dissolution, solute transport or biotransformation in a four-phase system comprising the NAPL, aqueous, solid and microbial phases. This paper proposes a model elucidating the microbial assimilation of hydrocarbon contaminants on the solid surface and in the aqueous phase. It focuses on those situations in which dissolution is the main rate-limiting factor. An investigation has been carried out on the rates of biodegradation of some common petroleum components such as benzene, ethyl-benzene, toluene and xylene in the four-phase system. The effects considered are those of the mass-transfer area, specific growth rate of biomass, and velocity of pore-water flow.
- OSTI ID:
- 491084
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9406250--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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