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Bioremediation Projects
Petroleum Contaminated Soils Bioreactor: Optimization and Enhancement IETU will use the lessons learned during the FY00 development-testing phase of the petroleum contaminated soils bioreactor to enhance performance of the technology. This will include optimization of processes, such as contaminated soil preparation and loading, leachate recirculation, and moisture optimization. This task also will address the use of microbial augmentation to increase the performance of the bioreactor system. IETU will investigate the possibility of treating small amounts of contaminated water, such as those produced by routine site sampling activities (i.e., Investigatively Derived Wastes or IDW) in the bioreactor.
Bioreactor to Treat Chlorinated Solvent-Contaminated Soils IETU will seek to treat soils contaminated by chlorinated solvents (e.g., PCE, TCE) using technology developed for the PCS bioreactor and operational findings developed during FY00. The two step biodegradation process associated with chlorinated solvents will require sequential anaerobic and aerobic degradation processes within the bioreactor. The goal of the project is to develop design criteria, to identify operational parameters and to determine time factors concerning the batch-scale remediation of soils contaminated with chlorinated solvents.
Monitoring of Assisted Natural Attenuation at the Refinery Biopile As the Czechowice remediation project moves toward completion, scientists from IETU will continue to monitor the performance of the Czechowice Oil Refinery Biopile following the termination of active remediation (i.e., blower aeration) at that site. Chemical analysis will be conducted for selected parameters that are determined to be indicative of bioremediation performance. In addition, ongoing activities between IETU and SRTC will continue with regard to microbial characteristics and performance within the biopile. The goal of these activities is to document the residual activity of a constructed biopile following cessation of active measures.
Remediation of Inorganic Contamination-Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Soils The goal of this project is to adapt and further refine phytoremediation for deployment at DOE sites. Considerable research has been reported on the laboratory-scale application of phytoremediation; however, little information is available concerning the cost, performance, and advantages of full-scale applications. An objective of this project is the optimization of full-scale application of phytoremediation and the documentation of those results.
Molecular characterization of acidophilic microorganisms capable of degrading petroleum hydrocarbons In previous work supported by DOE, an acidophilic microbial community of ecological, taxonomic and physiological interest was recovered from the petroleum-contaminated soils and waters at the Czechowice Oil Refinery (learn more about the Biopile project). This community consists of filamentous fungi, yeast and bacteria that are able to degrade both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons at extremely low pH (2.5 or even lower). The combination of physical and chemical properties (low temperature, low pH, and limited nutrient availability) of the refinery's environment has served as selective pressure factors directing the evolution of this community. The work on this project has included identifying these microorganisms and understanding their characteristics, especially tolerance for changes in temperature and acidity.
Production-scale implementation of a bioreactor for petroleum contaminated soils IETU constructed a portable bioreactor that employs the same natural attenuation principles developed in the Biopile (learn more about the Biopile project) project. Based on a Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC) design, the bioreactor provides a smaller, portable alternative for organic remediation of small-scale contamination at sites where a Biopile would not be cost-effective. This system is especially useful for soils contaminated with both radionuclides and petroleum, like those found at Savannah River Site. Presently, these soils are placed in radiation vaults. Removal of the petroleum fraction of this contamination would enable cost-effective, permanent disposal of the treated soil on site as low-level radiological waste. This will free up vault space, save operating costs, and provide a treatment method that can be transferred to other DOE facilities.
Report on Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents As part of an investigation into the remediation of chlorinated solvents, IETU conducted a literature review and initial feasibility studies on bioremediation of chlorinated solvents. Based on the results of those studies, Savannah River Technology Center and IETU are developing a full proposal to apply the existing expertise to bioremediation of soils contaminated with chlorinated solvents. Lessons learned from this study will be applied in FY01 to treat soils contaminated with chlorinated solvents in the specially designed bioreactor as well as future projects related to bioremediation of chlorinated solvents.
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