Effects of Chitin Purity and Proppant Loading on the Bioremediation of Chloroethenes
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 8
Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) of substrates and proppants into contaminated soils is a developing, but understudied, practice of stimulating in situ bioremediation. In this work, three different purities of the substrate crab shell chitin (SC-20, SC-40, and SC-80), two proppant loadings (sand:chitin mass ratios of and ), and three chloroethene concentrations (1 and trichloroethene, and cis-1,2-dichloroethene) were experimentally and statistically examined to determine their effects on halorespiration. The least refined crab shell, SC-20, produced the greatest variety of electron donors, converted the highest percentage of contaminant mass to ethene, and supported a significantly greater Dehalococcoides population than the other substrates. Although influent chloroethene concentration and proppant loading did not significantly affect halorespiration (-values ), decreasing the proppant loading from to increased the longevity of electron-donor production. These results indicate that funds need not be expended for purification of crab shell substrates, and that SC-20 should be used with proppant loadings of or lower to maximize the duration of electron-donor production at sites with potential biodegradation rate limitations.
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Acknowledgments
Funding was provided by an NSF SBIR Phase II grant: “Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents in Saturated, Low Permeability Soils” (Grant No. DMI-0239859) in collaboration with North Wind, Inc. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. The support of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University is also gratefully acknowledged. Four anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful comments to improve the manuscript.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 8 • August 2012
Pages: 862 - 872
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© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Aug 4, 2010
Accepted: Jan 27, 2012
Published online: Jan 31, 2012
Published in print: Aug 1, 2012
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