Biotreatment of oil shale wastewaters
Aerobic bacterial oxidation was evaluated for nine wastewaters from surface, modified in-situ, true in-situ, and simulated in-situ retorting processes: Oxy-6 gas condensate, Rio Blanco sour water, and Oxy-6, 150-Ton, TOSCO HSP, S-55, Omega-9, Geokinetics-9, and Paraho retort waters. Extensive acclimations for competent microbiota were completed after several months of serial enrichments using each water as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. Each water was diluted prior to biotreatment with an equal volume of inorganic orthophosphate buffer that contained essential trace elements. Preliminary experiments have indicated that losses of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) via volatilization could be extensive (e.g., up to one third); such losses could easily be mistaken for biologically mediated removal. Biodegradation was therefore assessed in screw-capped shake-flasks that contained sufficient headspace to ensure aerobic conditions. Biological removals of DOC ranged from 9% for Oxy-6 gas condensate to 49% for Oxy-6 retort water. Sample fractionation by a reverse-phase separation method indicated that the majority of the mineralized DOC resided in the hydrophilic fraction (HpF); this supported the hypothesis that compounds in this polar fraction were more easily biodegraded than those in the lipophilic fraction (LpF). Total removal of DOC from any water did not exceed the amount of carbon in the HpF.
- Research Organization:
- Energy and Environmental Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC03-76SF00098
- OSTI ID:
- 5196130
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-830434-
- Journal Information:
- Oil Shale Symp. Proc.; (United States), Conference: 16. oil shale symposium, Golden, CO, USA, 13 Apr 1983
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
IN-SITU RETORTING
WASTE WATER
MODIFIED IN-SITU PROCESSES
OIL SHALE PROCESSING PLANTS
AEROBIC DIGESTION
OXIDATION
BIOCHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
BIODEGRADATION
SPENT SHALES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DIGESTION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IN-SITU PROCESSING
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
KINETICS
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
REACTION KINETICS
RETORTING
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER
040900* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Waste management