Waste Management Inc., the United States, has developed a collection of innovative off-site remediation technologies to assist companies deal effectively with contaminated soils. These bioremediation services include the following.

TOSS^SM (Two-Step Static System) is a two-stage, solid-phase bioremediation technology that involves both anaerobic and aerobic treatments. In the first stage, explosives-contaminated soil is combined with a carbon source, an inoculum, vitamins and water to achieve anaerobic conditions. The resulting mixture is formed into a static pile or placed in a bermed construction or box to facilitate the chemical reduction of nitroaromatic and nitramine explosives. In the second stage, the anaerobically treated soil is combined with yard waste compost and built into an aerated biopile. The biopile is aerated by forced air conveyed through perforated piping buried within the pile or by turning the pile with a compost turner. Testing of TOSS has demonstrated TNT removal efficiencies of greater than 99 per cent.

The BioSite^SM System is for the large-scale bioremediation of soils contaminated with:

Petrochemicals including, but not limited to: acetone, alcohols, benzene, ethyl benzene, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, petroleum hydrocarbons, toluene, two- and three-ring PAHs, xylene; and
Other contaminants, including: aliphatic chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., trichloroethylene), spent molecular sieve from packing towers, chemical manufacturing wastes, pesticides.

Regulated compounds including underlying hazardous constituents are screened prior to acceptance. Soils co-contaminated with metals may be accepted depending on their concentration.
Bio-In-A-Box^SM works on the same principles as BioSite and TOSS, but is designed to operate indoors on a relatively smaller scale. Instead of being formed into long earthen mounds, the contaminated soil is moistened, mixed with nutrients and custom-grown micro-organisms and then placed in enclosed containers called solid phase bioreactors for incubation. These containers may or may not be linked to aeration and vacuum pipes, depending on the contaminants being processed. In just a few weeks, the decontaminated soil will be ready for disposal in a landfill site or reintroduction into the environment. Contact: Waste Management Inc., 1001 Fannin, Suite 4000, Houston, Texas, TX 77002, United States of America. Tel: +1 (713) 512 6345; E-mail: WMCares@wm.com.

Source: www.wm.com

An Israeli company, BioPetroClean (BPC), has developed an innovative industrial wastewater treatment process that offers major improvements over existing solutions. The novel Automated Chemostat Treatment (ACT) creates an output that is virtually sludge-free and can be directly returned to the environment. BPC transforms wastewater treatment into a highly efficient, economical and ecologically friendly process applicable in numerous wastewater treatment challenges, ranging from oil refineries and storage farms to drilling sites, marine ports, stream water and reservoirs.

The scientific concepts behind ACT are the application of an appropriate bacterial cocktail for a given type of polluted water, and an innovative chemostat. The process maintains a balanced state of bacterial growth and organic compound degradation. Thanks to the low concentration of bacterial cells, no aggregates are formed, and each bacterium acts as a single cell that increases the surface available for the process and enables biodegradation at a much higher efficiency.

ACT operates as a continuous flow reactor without using an activated sludge. The bioreactor can thus be applied on site while using available infrastructure with high flexibility for modulation of the process, thus saving dramatically in operational and maintenance costs. The fully automated system consists of a variety of on-line sensors, which feed the control unit information on various parameters such as: TPH, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, TOC and temperature. The controller ensures to maintain optimum process balance between the flow rate, bacterial growth, additives and organic compound degradation.

Source: www.pollutionsolutions-online.com

Biorem Inc., Canada, has introduced the UNITY technology platform that improves the performance level of biological odour removal systems. The innovation emerged from more than two years of advanced biofiltration and biotrickling media research.

At the heart of the UNITY platform are the two novel types of permanent media developed by Biorem. Harnessing the odour removal efficiency of these media is based on proprietary process and innovative tank configurations. The performance advantage is the high removal rate of both hydrogen sulphide and the very odorous contribution of total reduced sulphur while using a much smaller vessel. The advantage to owners and municipalities is a system with guaranteed performance with a small footprint and a lower overall installed cost, claims Mr. Peter Bruijns, President and CEO of Biorem.

Source: www.wwdmag.com

Vitabio Inc., the United States, has patented a method for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbon and toxic constitutes from contaminated soils and sediment. The remediation process is claimed to: remove major portion of the toxic constitutes from soils; improve the effectiveness of bioremediation for the remaining toxic constitutes in the soils; decompose the removed toxic constitutes in the preferred embodiment; and shorten the on-site treatment waiting period.

The invention aims to provide a bioremediation system that can treat a wide variety of toxic constitutes in soils, particularly for petroleum-based hydrocarbon materials. The method comprises the addition of a bio-stabilizer to promote bioremediation of contaminants in the soil. Fertilizer materials such as amino acid, nitrogen fertilizer or NPK mixed types fertilizers are added to improve the effectiveness of the bio-stabilizer.


Source : www.freepatentsonline.com

In the United States, Mr. Fanqing Chen and Mr. Jay Keasling of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a technology that opens up new territory for bioremediation providing for separation of carbon-based nanomaterials, such as fullerene waste, from a liquid mixture by the addition of bacterial cells. The invention has potential on two fronts: for removing soluble toxic nanomaterials from water and for using nanomaterials to control the growth of micro-organisms in a bioremediation system, thus preventing the biofouling of water.

The process involves mixing bacterial cells with a suspension of nanoparticles and waiting for clumping to occur (approximately 30-45 minutes) before the resulting biomass is precipitated. Centrifuging or filtering may not be necessary, and the fullerene waste can be separated out easily. While the invention provides for the use of different organisms, the versatile and environmentally important bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is the agent of choice as it is non-pathogenic and can grow in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

The invention provides a means of studying the charge-associated effects of fullerene derivatives on microbial structural integrity and also can be used to index the toxicity of nanomaterials by comparing isotopomer data with standards to detect the change of certain enzymatic reactions in cell metabolism under environmental and genetic stresses. Data on the regulation of enzymatic activities could be used in a high-throughput approach complementary to a microarray study.


Source: www.clu-in.org

In Egypt, Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications jointly with four inventors has been assigned a WIPO patent on a process of bioremediation of oil refinery by-product using a fungal strain and its optimization through numerical modelling. One soil sample and two water samples were used for bioremediation, and quantitative and qualitative analyses.

The fungal strain was grown on a standard potato dextrose-agar medium and incubated until sporulation, and checked microscopically. The spores formed were characteristic for the genus Penicillium. Molecular characterization of the fungus by sequencing the 18SrDNA gene confirmed this identification. Penicillium sp. was not able to grow on the media without addition of oil as carbon source, indicating that the amount of yeast extract used to culture the fungus on samples was not adequate. The fungus was not able to grow on media without the addition of yeast extract in the presence of oil as a carbon source; may be because the yeast extract contains some other growth factors needed for fungal growth.

Casein, potassium phosphate dibasic (K₂HPO₄), yeast extract, spore suspension concentration, pH and trace elements promoted petroleum removal by Penicillium sp., while ammonium sulphate, urea, temperature and sodium chloride inhibited the oil bioremediation process. The results reflected the importance of phosphorus-containing compounds for the bioremediation process. High temperature and salinity inhibited the fungal capacity to degrade petroleum oil, pointing to the unsuitability of the fungus for removal of oil spills from marine environment and at high temperatures. The Plackett-Burman model created based on experimental results showed sodium chloride as the highest negative significant variable (98.8 per cent), and K₂HPO₄ was the highest positive significant variable (97.2 per cent).

Phosphate concentration, higher pH and spore suspension concentration increased the oil degradation capacity of the fungal isolate. After estimating the relative significance of independent variables, these three most significant variables were selected for further determination of their optimal level with respect to mean enzyme activity (units/ml) as a response. For this, Box-Behnken design, which is a response surface methodology, was applied. The main steps of this optimization process were: performing the statistically designed experiments, estimating the coefficients in a mathematical model and predicting the response, and checking the adequacy of the model.

The optimal levels of the variables as obtained from the maximum point of the model were: K₂HPO₄, 9 g/l; spore suspension, 4 per cent; and pH, 8.5, with a predicted optimum of 98.8 per cent oil degradation capacity. Application of Box-Behnken design to optimize the selected factors for maximal degradation is an efficient method that tests the effect of factors interaction. It also converts the bioprocess factor correlation into a mathematical model that predicts where the optimum is likely to be located. Contact: Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Borg El-Arab City, Alexandria, 21934, Egypt.


Source: www.freepatentsonline.com