Simulation of Reductive Dechlorination Processes in a Lab-Scale Anaerobic Biobarrier with Enriched TCP Dechlorinating Consortium

In order to design and predict the dechlorination processes for remediating the halogenated aromatic com- pounds in the biobarrier system applied in situ, an anaerobic continuous-flow column was set up with the introduction of an enriched 2, 4, 6-trichlorophenol （TCP） reductive dechlorinating consortium. The fates of TCP and its metabo- lites were simulated according to the first-order sequential dechlorination kinetic model. The enriched TCP anaerobic dechlorinating consortium dechlorinated 100 p.mol/L TCP to 4-chlorophenol （4-CP） via 2,4-dichlorophenol （DCP） in 10 d. The consortium was predominated with the phylum of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, based on the PCR- denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） analysis. After the consortium was applied to the colunm, the ex- perimental data in the steady state were fitted by the least square method, and the first-order dechlorination kinetic constants from TCP to 2,4-DCP, from 2,4-DCP to 4-CP and from 4-CP to phenol, were 1.58 d-1, 2.23 d 1 and 0.206 d-1, respectively. According to the fitting results, the required biobarrier width for the complete remediation of TCP, 2,4- DCP and 4-CP were 126 cm, 130 cm and 689 cm, respectively. The dechlorination/degradation of 4-CP must be in- creased when the technology is applied to the real site.

Coupling of zero valent iron and biobarriers for remediation of trichloroethylene in groundwater

This study attempted to construct a three series barrier system to treat high concentrations of trichloroethylene （TCE; 500 mg/L） in synthetic groundwater. The system consisted of three reactive barriers using iron fillings as an iron-based barrier in the first column, sugarcane bagasse mixed with anaerobic sludge as an anaerobic barrier in the second column, and a biofilm coated on oxygen carbon inducer releasing material as an aerobic barrier in the third column. In order to evaluate the extent of removal of TCE and its metabolites in the aquifer down gradient of the barrier system, a fourth column filled with sand was applied. Residence time of the system was investigated by a bromide tracer test. The results showed that residence time in the column system of the control set and experimental set were 23.62 and 29.99 days, respectively. The efficiency of the three series barrier system in removing TCE was approximately 84% in which the removal efficiency of TCE by the iron filling barrier, anaerobic barrier and aerobic barrier were 42%, 16% and 25%, respectively. cis-Dichloroethylene （cis-DCE）, vinyl chloride （VC）, ethylene and chloride ions were observed as metabolites following TCE degradation. The presence of chloride ions in the effluent from the column system indicated the degradation of TCE. However, cis-DCE and VC were not fully degraded by the proposed barrier system which suggested that another remediation technology after the barrier treatment such as air sparging and adsorption by activated carbon should be conducted.