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Bioremediation

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11 views7 pages

Bioremediation

Uploaded by

Anumol Lorance
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIOREMEDIATION

▪ To use biological organisms to solve an environmental problem is


Bioremediation
▪ The collective range of clean-up methods by using natural microorganism (such
as bacteria,plants, Fungi, etc.) to degrade hazardous organic contaminants
or convert hazardous inorganic contaminants to environmentally less
toxic or nontoxic compounds of safe levels in soils, subsurface materials,
water, sludges, and residues.
▪ Most of the reactions of bioremediation involve xenobiotics.
▪ Xenobiotics broadly refers to the unnatural, foreign and synthetic chemicals such
as pesticides, herbicides, refrigerants, solvents, detergents, petroleum
hydrocarbons etc.
▪ Microorganisms are effective in degrading these compounds.

Types of bioremediation

In situ (AT THE SITE) and ex situ( AWAY FROM


THE SITE)bioremediation.

1. In Situ bioremediation:

• Clean up approach that involves the direct contact between microorganism


and contaminant.
• That is, It involves direct approach for the microbial degradation of
xenobiotics at the sites of pollution (soil, ground water).
• It has been successfully applied for clan-up oil spillages, beaches etc.

Advantages:

1- Low cost.
2- Minimal site disruption.
3- Simultaneous treatment of contaminated water and soil.
4- Minimal exposure of public and site personnel.

Disadvantages:

DR. Anoop Lectures


1- Time consuming.
2- Seasonal variation.
3- Problematic addition of additives.

Types of In situ Bioremediation


1- Intrinsic in situ bioremediation.
2- Engineered in situ bioremediation.

Intrinsic in situ bioremediation:

• Bioremediation that can occur on its own.


• Intrinsic bioremediation uses microorganisms already present in the
environment to biodegrade harmful contaminant.
• There is no human intervention involved in this type of bioremediation, and
since it is the cheapest means of bioremediation available, it is the most
commonly used.
• When intrinsic bioremediation isn’t feasible, scientists turn next to
engineered bioremediation

Factors effecting rate of intrinsic in situ bioremediation:


1- moisture in soil.
2- pH.
3- Temp
4- Soil nutrients.
5- presence of electron acceptors (NO3 , SO4).
6- Toxin conc.

Engineered In situ bioremediation:

The second approach involves the introduction of certain microorganisms to the


site of contamination.

1. When site conditions are not suitable, engineered systems have to be introduced
to that particular site.
2. Engineered in situ bioremediation accelerates the degradation process by
enhancing the physicochemical conditions to encourage the growth of
microorganisms.
3. Oxygen, electron acceptors and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) promote
microbial growth.

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Insitu Engineered bioremediation types

Bioventing

This involves supplying air and nutrients through wells to contaminated soil to
stimulate the indigenous bacteria.

Biosparging

This involves the injection of air under pressure below the water table to increase
groundwater oxygen concentrations and enhance the rate of biological
degradation of contaminants by naturally occurring bacteria.
Recent advancements have also proven successful via the addition of matched
microbial strains to the medium to enhance the resident microbe populations
ability to break down contaminants (bioaugmentation).

Bio augmentation

This involves practice of adding specialized microbes or their enzyme preparation


or microbial consortium to polluted sites to accumulate transformation or
destabilization of specific pollutants. (Rittmann B.E and McCarty, P.L. 2001)
6/23/2014 33

1. Ex Situ Bioremediation

Ex-situ conservation means literally, "off-site conservation“.


The waste or toxic materials can be collected from the polluted sites and the
bioremediation with the requisite microorganisms can be carried out at designed
places.

Classified into

1- Solid phase treatment.


2- Slurry phase treatment.

Solid phase treatment includes


1- organic wastes.
2- domestic wastes.
3- industrial wastes.
4- agricultural wastes.

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Composting

The traditional method involves the production of compost.

It is self heating, substrate dense, managed microbial system suitable for the
treatment of large amount of contaminated waste.

Microbial growth is affected by


1- moisture in soil.
2- pH.
3- Temp
4- Soil nutrients.
5- particle size.
6- Toxin conc.

Composting can be done either Open land system or Closed treatment system

1- Open land system: it is inexpensive but difficult to manage.


2- Closed treatment system: Expensive but manageable.

Slurry phase system

Contaminated materials, microorganism and water are formulated into slurry within
the bioreactor or fermenter.
The bioreactors are designed to promote microbial degradation.

Types of slurry phase bioreactors

1- Aerated lagoons.
Nutrients are supplied, mixers are fitted for slurry formation and surface aerators
provide air for microbial growth.
Not appropriate for volatile wastes.

2- Closed system: low shear air lift reactors(LSARs)

In this bioreactor pH, temp, nutrient addition,mixing and oxygen supply can be
controlled as desired.

Pretreatment involve
A-fractionation of soil.
Washing.
Milling to reduce particle size and slurry formation.
Certain surfactants like anthracene, pyrene are added to enhance rate of
biodegradation.

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Factors affecting slurry phase biodegradation

1- moisture in soil.
2- pH.
3- Temp.
4- Soil nutrients.
5- Reactor operation.
6- Toxin conc.
7- Microbial population.
8- Mixing (aeration).

Reactions involved in bioremediation are aerobic bioremediation,


anaerobic bioremediation, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation,
dehalogenation, carboxylation, decarboxylation etc.

Bioremediation of hydrocarbons

Petroleum and its products are hydrocarbons.


In toxic environment microorganism acts only if the conditions,that is
temperature, pH and inorganic nutrients are adequate.
Oil is insoluble in water and is less dense.
Microorganisms which are capable of degrading petroleum includes
pseudomonas, various corynebacteria, mycobacteria and some yeasts.

Two methods used are

(a) Use of mixture of bacteria


Mixture of bacteria have been used to control oil pollution in water supplies and
oil spills from ships.
(b) Use of genetically engineered bacterial strains
These type of bacterial strain could grew rapidly on crude oil because it was
capable of metabolizing hydrocarbons more efficiently than any other single
plasmid.

Eg : Pseudomonas putida containing XYL and NAH plasmid.

Both aerobic and anaerobic methods are used for the degradation of aliphatic
hydrocarbons. biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbon involves the removal
offside chain and opening benzene ring.

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BIOREMEDIATION OF INDUSTRIAL WASTES

A variety of pollutants are discharged in the environment from a large number of


industries/ mills. These includes enzymes ,acids, alkali, alcohols, phenols, dyes,
heavy metals etc.

a) Bioremediation of dyes.
Dyes undergo degradation through reduction. Degradation of black liquor pulp
mill effluents by the strains of Pseudomonas putida.
Some anaerobic bacteria, Streptomyces, and fungi have been characterized for
the decoloration of chromogenic dyes.
The enzymes involved in the dye degradation are lignases, Mn(II) dependent
peroxidase and glyoxal oxidase.

Biodegradation of pesticides and herbicides

These are used against plant disease and crop yield


Eg: propanil, propharm, DDT etc.

b) Bioremediation in the paper and pulp industry

Contain chromophoric compounds and can be partly mutagenic


and inhibitory to aquatic system
c) Bioremediation of heavy metals
d) Bioremediation of coal wastes through WAM fungi

DR. Anoop Lectures


DR. Anoop Lectures

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