Use of an Anaerobic Sludge Digestion Process to Treat Pentachlorophenol-(PCP-) Contaminated Soil
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 129, Issue 12
Abstract
Extensive pentachlorophenol (PCP) contamination and its increasing treatment costs motivate the search for better treatment alternatives. In this study, the feasibility and effectiveness of an anaerobic sludge digestion process was evaluated. Two laboratory-scale digesters mimicking the commonly used anaerobic sludge digester in a municipal wastewater treatment plant were operated to treat PCP. Results showed that up to 0.98 mM of chemical PCP dissolved in acetone and 0.6 mM soil PCP from a contaminated site were treated at nearly 100 and 97.3% efficiencies, respectively. PCP dechlorination followed two major pathways: PCP to 2,3,4,5-TeCP to 2,3,5- or 3,4,5-TCP to 3,5-DCP and PCP to 2,3,5,6-TeCP to 2,3,5-TCP to 3,5-DCP to 3-MCP. The 3-MCP was not present until 26 days after the first addition of PCP, which also concluded the end of the sludge acclimation process to PCP. Microbial acclimation reduced chlorophenol toxicity and enhanced degradation of chlorophenol. Without acclimation the gas production and chlorophenol degradation were both significantly hindered. 95% of the added PCP was transformed to 3-MCP, 4.5% to 3,4-DCP, and 0.5% to 3,5-DCP, and about 20% of the PCP by-products remained in liquid and the rest adsorbed on sludge solids. Results of this study suggested the potential use of an anaerobic sludge digestion process for PCP-contaminated soil remediation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Chen, Shyi-Tien, and Berthouex, P. M.(2001). “Treating an aged pentachlorophenol- (PCP-) contaminated soil through three handling processes—Anaerobic sludge digestion, post-sludge digestion and sludge land application.” J. Water Sci. Technol., 44(10), 149–154.
Chen, Shyi-Tien, Dong, Joseph, Berthouex, P. M., and Boyle, W. C.(2000). “Fate of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in an anaerobic sludge digester.” Water Environ. Res., 72(2), 201–206.
Crosby, D. G. (1998). Environmental toxicology and chemistry, Oxford University Press, New York.
Karamanev, D. G., Chavarie, C., and Samson, R.(1998). “Soil immobilization: A new concept for the biotreatment of soil contaminats.” Biotechnol. Bioeng., 57, 471–476.
Miller, K. M., Suidan, M. T., Sorial, G. A., Khodadoust, A. P., Acheson, C. M., and Brenner, R. C.(1998). “Anaerobic treatment of soil wash fluids from a wood preserving site.” Water Sci. Technol., 38, 63–72.
Rao, K. R. (1978). “Pentachlorophenol-chemistry, Pharmacology, and Environmental Toxicology.” 12, 402.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) (1995). Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 〈http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts51.html〉 (July 10, 2002).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 20, 2002
Accepted: Sep 17, 2002
Published online: Nov 14, 2003
Published in print: Dec 2003
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.