Modeling Trichloroethene Reduction, Methanogenesis, and Homoacetogenesis in a -Based Biofilm
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 2
Abstract
Homoacetogenesis and methanogenesis, which usually occur during anaerobic trichloroethene (TCE) dechlorination, affect the removal of TCE and its daughter products. This study develops a one-dimensional, multispecies -based biofilm model to simulate the interactions among six solid biomass species [Dehalococcoides, Geobacter, methanogens, homoacetogens, inert biomass (IB), and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)] and 10 dissolved chemical species [TCE, dichloroethene (DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), ethene, hydrogen (), methane, acetate, bicarbonate, utilization associated products (UAP), and biomass associated products (BAP)]. To evaluate and parameterize the model, parameter values from the literature were input into the model to simulate conditions reported for an experiment. The biomass species distribution in the biofilm and the chemical species concentrations in the reactor effluent at a steady state were generally consistent between the experiments and the model. The predicted 15-μm biofilm consisted of three layers, each dominated by a different active biomass type: homoacetogens in the layer next to the membrane, Geobacter in the biofilm surface layer (next to the water), and Dehalococcoides in-between.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully thank the US Department of Defense’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) for funding the research through Project No. ER-2721.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 2 • February 2020
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 5, 2019
Accepted: Jun 25, 2019
Published online: Dec 12, 2019
Published in print: Feb 1, 2020
Discussion open until: May 12, 2020
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