Anaerobic biotrickling filter for trichloroethylene removal from waste gases
There are an estimated 852 sites with groundwater and/or soil contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) in the US. To biologically treat TCE-laden waste gas streams, a different microbial metabolic pathway is needed. A study was conducted to provide proof of concept of anaerobic TCE-laden waste gas treatment. A lab-scale anaerobic biotrickling filter was inoculated with a commercially available mixed culture containing Dehalococcoides sp., and was monitored for TCE removal performance. TCE could be removed in anaerobic biotrickling filters at rates much higher than most previous gas-phase bioreactors. The distribution of intermediates was dependent on pH. Systematic research on evaluating inhibition between degradation of each compound would provide kinetic data that will enable to design systems that completely convert TCE to ethylene at high rates. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 102nd AWMA Annual Conference (Detroit, MI 6/16-19/2009).
