Patent Grant
9643223
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure pertains to the use of bacteria in bioremediation of contaminated materials. More particularly, the disclosure relates to the use of certain bioremediation enhancing agents that facilitate degradation of certain chemicals by bacteria.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of carbon substrates as electron donors to enhance reductive dechlorination and the use of oxygen and other oxygen releasing compounds as electron acceptors to enhance the degradation of hydrocarbons have been commercially used to remediate chemical contaminants since at least the early 1990's. A general problem for anaerobic bioremediation of contaminants has been the poor utilization of electron donors. More recently, in order to reduce costs, the industry has moved toward cheaper, less refined substrates with little regard toward substrate efficiency. Some of these lower cost electron donors show poor kinetics and low efficiency. There is therefore a need for improved efficiency of electron donor utilization and enhanced bioremediation kinetics.
Some contaminated sites or contaminated materials contain indigenous microbial communities that are sufficient for complete bioremediation of contaminants. For those sites that are microbiologically limited, addition of nutrients may facilitate the remediation process. Addition of nutrients, such as yeast extract, has been shown to promote the activities of contaminant degrading bacteria in bioremediation of halogenated hydrocarbon contaminated soils. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,929. However, no evidence has been reported that such nutrients enhance the efficiency of electron donor utilization in bioremediation. There remains a need for more cost effective nutrients that can enhance the kinetics and/or the efficiency of electron donor utilization in bioremediation.
The present disclosure advances the art of bioremediation by providing a method and composition useful in increasing the bioremediation kinetics and enhancing the efficiency of electron donor utilization in a bioremediation process. Nutrients, or Bioremediation Enhancing Agents (BEAs), including yeast products and/or polysaccharides, may be added to a contaminated environment to improve microbial treatment of the contaminated material. The yeast products and polysaccharides may work with microbes and electron donors to improve the rate of degradation of the contaminant. Besides their role in increasing the rates of bioremediation, addition of yeast products and polysaccharides may also increase the efficiency of electron donor utilization. As shown in the examples, addition of yeast products and polysaccharides result in more contaminant being able to be degraded per unit of electron donor consumed.
Yeast products may include, for example, live yeast culture (LYC), yeast metabolites (YM), enzyme-digested yeast (EDY), yeast culture (YC), hydrolyzed yeast (HY), mixed yeast culture (MYC) containing live yeast (LYC), yeast extract (YE), and hydrolyzed yeast (HY), and combination thereof. More preferably, the yeast products to be used are yeast metabolites (YM). Polysaccharides may include but are not limited to beta-glucans, yeast-derived polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, glycans, cellulose, starch, glycogen, chitin, and mixtures thereof. The yeast products and the polysaccharides may be added separately or they may be used in combination. In one embodiment, the polysaccharide to be added is fructooligosaccharide.
The effects of varying amounts of yeast products and polysaccharides have been compared and the suitable range of yeast products and polysaccharide to be used is hereby disclosed. In general, the amount of the bioremediation enhancing agent to be added is an amount that is effective to enhance bioremediation of said contaminated material. In one aspect, this effective amount is equal or greater than the amount sufficient to improve the efficiency of electron donor utilization when compared with a bioremediation reaction without the addition of said bioremediation enhancing agent. In another aspect, the amount of the bioremediation enhancing agent to be added is an amount that is equal or greater than the amount sufficient to increase the kinetics of bioremediation when compared with a bioremediation reaction without the addition of said bioremediation enhancing agent.
More particularly, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, an amount of the bioremediation enhancing agent is effective if it improves by at least 5% the efficiency of electron donor utilization. The improvement of efficiency may be determined by comparing the efficiency of electron donor utilization in different bioremediation reactions with or without the addition of the bioremediation enhancing agent.
In another embodiment of the present disclosure, an amount of the bioremediation enhancing agent is effective if it increases by at least 2% the kinetics of the bioremediation process. The increases of kinetics may be determined by comparing the kinetics of different bioremediation reactions with or without the addition of the bioremediation enhancing agent.
In yet another embodiment, the bioremediation enhancing agent may be added to a contaminated material to achieve a final concentration of about 0.1 mg to about 500 mg of the bioremediation enhancing agent per liter of the bioremediation reaction. For purpose of this disclosure, the volume of a bioremediation reaction is the total volume of the contaminated material after all bioremediation reagents have been added to the contaminated material. Bioremediation reagents may include but are not limited to water or other solvents, BEAs, microorganisms, electron donors or acceptors, and other chemicals that may be beneficial for the bioremediation process.
Certain contaminated materials (or sites) may contain carbon source, such as organic acids that may function as indigenous electron donor. However, under certain circumstances when there is a shortage of electron donors, or when the indigenous electron donor has been exhausted, one or more non-indigenous electron donors may be added to the contaminated materials to facilitate the bioremediation process. For purpose of this disclosure, the electron donors may be selected from the group consisting of a member selected from the group consisting of C2-C6 carboxylic acids and salts or esters or polymers thereof, C2-C6 hydroxy acids and salts or esters or polymers thereof, volatile fatty acids and salts or esters thereof, molasses, sugars, vegetable oil, emulsified vegetable oil substrates, free fatty acids, fatty acid esters, glycerol tripolylactate, HRC®, HRC-X®, HRC Advanced®, (HRC®, HRC-X® and HRC Advanced are Registered Trademarks of Regenesis, Inc.), whey powder, corn syrup, and combination thereof.
In one aspect, a relatively pure preparation containing at least one organic acid may be used as an electron donor. In another aspect, a mixture containing at least one organic acid as well as some residual nutrients and carbohydrates that are left over from the fermentation process that is used to produce the organic acids may be used as an electron donor. By way of example, lactic acid microorganisms may ferment a sugar source such as corn sugar to produce lactic acid. Other compounds may be generated as by-products of the process. The lactic acid may be used together with those by-products to enhance a bioremediation process. It is disclosed here that use of such a mixture may be advantageous over pure form of organic acids. One possible explanation is that the various by-products of the fermentation process may help increasing the bioremediation kinetics as well as enhancing the efficiency of electron donor utilization.
Several novel electron donors for bioremediation and their use are also disclosed. These electron donors include, for example Erythorbate Mother Liquor (ML) (Set B), Lactic Acid Solids (Set D), Crude Glycerol (Set E), Citric Acid and salts thereof (Set E), Gluconic Acid and salts thereof (Set F), Erythorbate and salts thereof (Set F), and polysaccharides (Set G).
One screening test used to correlate reductive dechlorination activity is the production of volatile fatty acids, in particular the ratio of propionate to acetate from the fermentation of an organic substrate in the presence of perchloroethene (PCE).
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for the enhancement of microbial metabolic kinetics and efficiencies of both indigenous and non-indigenous microbial populations through the addition of yeast products and/or polysaccharides.
It is also an object of this invention that the process be used to enhance the metabolic kinetics and efficiencies of indigenous and non-indigenous microbial populations specific to the in situ and ex situ remediation of soil, groundwater, or a combination of both soil and ground water, containing organic contaminants, inorganic contaminants, or a combination of both organic and inorganic contaminants utilizing either aerobic or anaerobic metabolic pathways or both.
It is also an object of this invention that the process be used to enhance the metabolic kinetics and efficiencies of indigenous and non-indigenous microbial populations specific to the degradation of organic, inorganic, or a combination of both organic and inorganic substances in waste water and storm water contained in process equipment or within containment structures associated with publicly-owned treatment plants (POTW's) or privately-owned waste water or storm water treatment systems. It is also an object of this invention that the process be used to enhance the metabolic kinetics and efficiencies of microorganisms within or on other organisms to change the physical or chemical state of organic or inorganic substances.
It is further an object of this invention that the process be used through direct surface application of yeast products and polysaccharides, mixing of yeast products and polysaccharides with electron donor substrates, nutrients, or organisms, or through the passive introduction of yeast products and polysaccharides into the environment.
Another object of this invention is that certain contaminated materials (or sites) may be bioremediated more quickly or efficiently using an aerobic process wherein the contaminant may be bioremediated through an oxidative biodegradation process. See e.g., Rockne and Reddy, BIOREMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SITES, International e-Conference on Modern Trends in Foundation Engineering: Geotechnical Challenges and Solutions, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, (October 2003). In one aspect, the contaminant may itself act as the electron donor and the contaminated materials (or sites) may contain oxygen or other electron acceptors such as nitrate or sulfate that may function as indigenous electron acceptors. However, under certain circumstances when there is a shortage of electron acceptors, or when the indigenous electron acceptor has been exhausted, one or more non-indigenous electron acceptors may be added to the contaminated materials to facilitate the bioremediation process. Examples of electron acceptors may include but are not limited to oxygen, sulfate, nitrate, peroxide, oxidizing agents, permanganates, ozone, compounds that chemically or biologically generate oxygen, metallic peroxygens, ORC®, ORC-Advanced®, RegenOx™ (ORC®, ORC-Advanced®, RegenOx™ are Trademarks of Regensis, Inc.), or mixtures thereof. BEAs added to these preferentially aerobic bioremediation systems may improve the rate of bioremediation of the contaminant or may increase the efficiency of utilization of the electron acceptor for bioremediation or both.
Some contaminants that may be bioremediated through an aerobic pathway may include but are not limited to petroleum hydrocarbons, aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons such as BETX compounds, gasoline, and diesel fuel. In addition, PCB, pesticides, dioxins and certain metals may be also aerobically bioremediated.
In another aspect, certain bioremediation processes may generate significant amount of energy in the form of thermal or chemical energy. Under certain circumstances, it may be desirable to capture some or all of these various forms of energy or to convert them into energy forms that can be more readily used.
This disclosure provides an improved method for enhancing the efficiency and kinetics of bioremediation of a contaminated material. The term “contaminated material” may refer to any sites, media or objects that have been contaminated by chemicals as a consequence of human activities or natural causes. Applicable contaminant materials may include but are not limited to water, other liquid, solid or gaseous media or media of other phases or mixed phases that contain chemicals potentially harmful for human, animal or the environment in general.
The disclosed method may be applicable to contaminated material containing either halogen-containing chemicals or non-halogen-containing chemicals. Halogen-containing chemicals may include but are not limited to halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbon and halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon. Non-halogen-containing chemicals may include but are not limited to aliphatic hydrocarbon and aromatic hydrocarbon, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). In another aspect, chemicals suitable to be treated by the bioremediation methods disclosed herein may also include but are not limited to perchlorate salts, pesticides, metals, nitrates, sulfates, MTBE, industrial or municipal waste water, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Acid Mine Drainage (AMD), radio nucleotides and dioxins.
In one aspect, the methods disclosed herein may be useful for enrichment and/or conversion of certain chemicals present in a contaminated material (or site). For instance, the composition disclosed may enhance the growth and metabolism of certain microbes which selectively transport chemicals into their cells. Some microbes may store the chemicals; others may convert the chemicals into different chemicals. Sometimes, it may be advantageous to employ microbes that simply store the chemicals so that the chemicals may be enriched and harvested later. Under other circumstances, it may be more desirable to employ microbes that convert one chemical into another chemical that is less harmful, or sometimes, more valuable.
The specification sheets of various commercially available products are shown in this disclosure. It is recognized that these Spec Sheets are shown for purpose of illustration only. It is understood that certain physical or chemical properties of the products may be modified without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that under certain circumstances, it may be more desirable or more convenient to alter certain physical and/or chemical characteristics of one or more of these components in order to achieve the same or similar objectives as taught by this disclosure.
It is to be noted that, as used in this specification and the claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “an electron donor” includes reference to a mixture of two or more of such electron donors, reference to “a solvent” includes reference to one or more of such solvents, and reference to “a microbe” includes reference to a mixture of two or more of such microbes. Unless otherwise specified, terms with all or some letters capitalized may be used interchangeably with terms with lower case letters.
Inoculum
Certain contaminated materials (or sites) may contain indigenous microbial communities that are sufficient for complete bioremediation of contaminants. For such sites, there is no need to add microbes unless the indigenous microbes are genetically deficient in achieving the desired clean-up goals. For those sites that are microbiologically limited, microorganisms may be added to the contaminated materials (or sites). In one embodiment, the inoculum may be a mixed culture of halo-respiring bacteria that have been enriched to reach an optimal cell density. These mixed cultures of halo-respiring bacteria may be typically obtained from sediment samples from rivers, streams or any waterways. More specifically, the inoculum used in the Examples was originated from a Sangamon River sediment sample (Lodge Park, Piatt County, Ill.) See, e.g., Brennan, R. A., Sanford, R. A. and Werth, C. J. (2006). “Biodegradation of Tetrachloroethene by Chitin Fermentation Products in a Continuous Flow Column System.” Journal of Environ. Engr., June 665-673. This culture had grown for several years on PCE, anaerobic basal salts medium, Wolfe's vitamin solution and various electron donors including lactate (1-2 millimolar (mM)), formate (4 mM) and chitin using the Volatile Interface Transfer Apparatus (VITA) reactor system at the University of Illinois. Brennan, R. A., and Sanford, R. A. (2002). “Continuous steady-state method using Tenax for delivering tetrachloroethene to chlororespiring bacteria.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 68(3), 1464-1467. In 2003, microscopic direct count estimates showed that the culture's density exceeded 1×109 cells/ml. Using 16S rRNA gene-specific primers, both Dehalococcoides and Dehalobacter spp. were detected. Quantitative real-time PCR has been used to determine that approximately 1.65×107 Dehalococcoides gene copies were present per ml of culture.
Nutrient Description
Various nutrients, including yeast derived products (or yeast products) and polysaccharides, are shown here to enhance bioremediation of a variety of contaminated materials. The terms “nutrient” and “bioremediation enhancing agent” may be used interchangeably in this disclosure. “Carbohydrate” may include polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, and monosaccharide and their derivatives. Yeast derived products may be further classified into the following categories: live yeast culture (LYC); yeast extract (YE); yeast metabolites (YM); enzyme-digested yeast (EDY); yeast culture (YC); hydrolyzed yeast (HY); and mixed yeast culture (MYC) containing live yeast (LYC), yeast extract (YE), and hydrolyzed yeast (HY).
“Live yeast culture” (LYC), also referred to as “live yeast” (LY) may be described as living or temporarily dormant yeast cells typically from cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or other species of budding or fission yeast. The yeast may be mixed with grain products such as ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, condensed fermented corn extract, cane molasses, or malted barley. Examples of live yeast culture or live yeast may include but are not limited to various materials produced by Western Yeast Company, Inc. of Chillicothe, Ill. By way of example, one such live yeast is CEL-CON 5 (LYC1) produced by Western Yeast Company. The product specification sheet of LYC1 is shown below for purpose of illustration:
Other LYCs based on other strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae may also be used. For instance, LYC2 is a dried form of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain 1026. A modified form of LYC2 in a more concentrated form is also tested in this disclosure and is referred to as LYC3. LYC3 contains about twice the concentration of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain 1026 as LYC2.
As is commonly known in the art, Yeast Extract (YE) is a water soluble extract of autolyzed yeast cells. Yeast extract is a mixture of amino acids, peptides, water soluble vitamins and carbohydrates and can be used as additive for culture media. Examples of “yeast extract” may include but are not limited to various products sold by Sigma in the form of BioChemika, microbiology grade (YE1). The Spec Sheet of YE1 is listed below for purpose of illustration:
For purpose of this disclosure, the singular form and plural form of the term yeast metabolite(s) (YM) may be used interchangeably to describe one or more metabolites (or nutrients) produced by yeast cells that have been grown for at least 15 minutes under anaerobic conditions. When a population of yeast cells are said to be grown under “anaerobic conditions,” it means that more than 90% of the cells do not have continuous supply of oxygen for at least 15 minutes while they are still alive. It is to be recognized that although yeast cells grown under aerobic conditions also produce metabolites, the YM as disclosed here contains metabolites that are produced by the yeast cells under anaerobic conditions. For purpose of enhancing bioremediation, the various forms of YM disclosed herein are preferable over other products, such as yeast extract (YE) that may contain yeast metabolites produced under aerobic conditions. Products such as YE that may contain yeast metabolites produced by yeast cells grown under aerobic but not anaerobic conditions are not within the meaning of YM for purpose of this disclosure.
In a preferred embodiment, YM is prepared from yeast cells, along with their culture media, that have been incubated for a period of at least 30 minutes under anaerobic conditions. It is hereby disclosed that YM may contain a broad range of molecules that are beneficial to the proliferation and/or metabolism of microbes in a bioremediation process. Examples of such beneficial molecules may include vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, nucleic acids, fatty acids, peptides, etc, that are produced by yeast cells under anaerobic conditions.
In one aspect, sugar sources such as corn syrup and cane molasses may be fermented utilizing a multi-step fermentation and drying process to produce the YM, as illustrated in
The liquid fermentation phase may contain multiple steps of fermentation (not shown in
A modified form of YM may be produced by adding to the broth of YM1 various supplements prior to its dehydration. Examples of these supplements may include ground yellow corn, hominy feed, corn gluten feed, wheat middlings, rye middlings, diastatic malt and corn syrup, cane molasses, other starches or carbohydrates or mixtures thereof in an amount or manner to form a dough. This dough may be extruded, dried, and ground forming YM2. YM3 may be produced in a similar fashion to YM2 except preparation of YM3 starts with higher concentrations of YM in the YM1 broth. YM4 is a more finely ground version of YM3.
The YM products thus prepared may contain yeast proteins, various biological factors, vitamins and mixtures of metabolites generated by fermenting yeast under anaerobic conditions. The fermentation and drying processes are preferably conducted under mild conditions such that the yeast proteins, factors, vitamins and other fermentation products are not destroyed.
Suitable fermenting yeast includes, for example, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Other yeast strains capable of fermentation may also be used. Selection and manipulation of yeast may be performed according to C. Guthrie and G. R. Fink, Guide to Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology (Methods in Enzymology, Vol. 194), Academic Press (February 1991).
Examples of yeast metabolites (YM) may include but are not limited to various products produced by Embria Health Sciences, L.L.C. of Ankeny, Iowa. The Physical and Chemical Properties listed on the spec sheet of EpiCore® High-Metabolite Immunogens (YM1) are shown below for purpose of illustration:
Staph. Aureus
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Salmonella sp.
Enzyme digested yeast (EDY) refers to the product of an enzymatic breakdown of the cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown in a specific medium. Examples of “enzyme digested yeast” may include but are not limited to various products produced by Varied Industries Corporation of Mason City, Iowa. A preferred form of enzyme digested yeast is Celmanax® Liquid (EDY1), the Spec Sheet of which is shown below for purpose of illustration:
Yeast Culture (YC) refers to yeast cells, such as cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, together with the media on which they grow. Typical media may contain, for example, glucose, sucrose, cane sugar, cane molasses and corn syrup, or processed grain products. Examples of “yeast culture” may include but are not limited to various products produced by Varied Industries Corporation of Mason City, Iowa. A particular line of product in the form of A-MAX® Yeast Culture ULTRA (YC1) is used in this disclosure. The Spec Sheet of YC1 is shown below for purpose of illustration:
For purpose of this disclosure, mixed yeast culture (MYC) containing LYC, YE, and hydrolyzed yeast (HY) generally refer to a preparation of various yeast components derived from the fermentation of a specific culture containing cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae or other species of budding or fission yeast. The term “hydrolyzed yeast” (HY) refers to yeast extract that is chemically degraded through hydrolysis. Examples of MYC may include but are not limited to various products produced by Varied Industries Corporation of Mason City, Iowa, such as the product Celmanax® Yeast Culture, Yeast Extract, and Hydrolyzed Yeast (MYC1) that is used in this disclosure. The Spec Sheet of MYC1 is shown below for purpose of illustration:
Polysaccharide (PS) generally refers to a carbohydrate polymer made up of two or more molecules of monosaccharides. Examples of polysaccharides suitable for purpose of this disclosure may include but are not limited to oligosaccharides, beta-glucan, glycans, cellulose, starch, glycogen, chitin, or mixtures thereof. One type of polysaccharide is the class of fibers known as fructans. Inulin, which is one type of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) commonly used as a water-soluble dietary fiber, is used in this disclosure to evaluate the effects of polysaccharide on the bioremediation process. Inulin is extracted from Jerusalem Artichoke tubers in pure form and is found naturally in more than 36,000 types of plants worldwide. Inulin is a natural polymer containing fructose units generally terminating in a glucose unit. More particularly, the inulin used in this disclosure is produced by Becwood Technology Group, L.L.C. of Independence, Minn. and sold under the name ULTRA-FOS® (PS1). The Spec Sheet of PS1 is shown below for purpose of illustration:
In another aspect, polysaccharides in the form of oligosaccharides in less pure form derived from certain yeast cells may be used as polysaccharide, and is sometimes referred to as “yeast derived polysaccharides” in this disclosure. One specific form of such oligosaccharides designated PS2 is tested in this disclosure.
Bioremediation Microcosms
In order to assess the effect of the BEAs on bioremediation, the reactions may be carried out with or without the BEAs and the results are measured. The BEAs and the electron donors maybe added into a bioremediation mix in any physical forms, preferably in either liquid or solid form. The amount of the bioremediation enhancing agent to be added to the reaction may be determined by measuring the kinetics and the efficiency of electron donor utilization in the presence or absence of the BEAs in a pilot experiment. For purpose of this disclosure, “an amount sufficient to improve the efficiency of electron donor utilization” means an amount of a substance that will positively affect the efficiency of electron donor utilization when such a substance is added in such an amount to a reaction. Similarly, “an amount sufficient to increase the kinetics of bioremediation” means an amount of a substance that will positively affect the kinetics of bioremediation when such a substance is added in such an amount to a reaction.
For purpose of this disclosure, each bottle may be started with a certain amount of PCE. At subsequent times each bottle may be sampled for the degradation daughter products of PCE, namely trichloroethene (TCE), cis-dichloroethene (DCE), vinyl chloride (VC) and ethene, etc. Trans-DCE and 1,1-DCE are also daughter products of PCE, but they may not be detectable under the conditions disclosed here.
The rate of degradation may be determined by calculating the number of μmoles of chloride ions removed from PCE and subsequently from the amounts of the daughter products generated. The calculation may be performed as follows:
Chloride(μmoles)=Starting PCE(μmoles)−4×PCE(μmoles)−3×TCE(μmoles)−2×DCE(μmoles)−VC(μmoles)
An alternative calculation may be used for low activity sets that do not generate many daughter products or sets where the uninoculated control shows loss of PCE. The alternative chloride calculation is:
Chloride(μmoles)=TCE(μmoles)+2×DCE(μmoles)+3×VC(μmoles)+4×Ethene(μmoles)
Next, the dechlorination rate may be determined for each bottle at each time by dividing the Chloride generated by the time (days). The data may be then normalized to the lactate control by taking the ratio of Chloride Rate (μmoles/day) and the Lactate Control Chloride Rate (μmoles/day). This ratio is called Relative Rate and is dimensionless.
As shown in the Examples, a paired t-test has been conducted to calculate the probability that the Relative Rate of one group (i.e. with Nutrient) is greater than the other group (i.e. without Nutrient). The null hypothesis is that the underlying means of the two paired groups are equal. The Probability that one group has higher Relative Rates than the other group is shown in various tables in the Examples.
The Examples below also contain figures showing the relative amount of dechlorination daughter products remaining at the sampling points near the end of each experiment. A bioremediation amendment showing ethene generation at this stage may be considered to have successfully demonstrated its ability to be an electron donor for the bioremediation of contaminants in water, or other sources.
Sets B, C, D, E, and G further contain figures and tables showing results of the characterization of the Efficiency and the Relative Efficiency of electron donor usage. Efficiency may be defined as the percent of electron donor utilized for dechlorination, and may be calculated by dividing the μmoles of Chloride ion generated by the μmoles of electron donor consumed as measured by either Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) analysis (Sets B, C, and G) or Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) analysis (Set D and E). The Relative Efficiency of the electron donor utilization may be defined as the Efficiency of the Electron Donor divided by the Efficiency of the Lactate Control.
In another aspect, a mixture of at least one organic acid may be used as electron donor. It is also provided here that such a mixture may also contain nutrients and/or carbohydrates residual from a fermentation process that is used to produce at least one of the organic acids. Examples of such organic acids include but are not limited to carboxylic acids, hydroxyl acids or volatile fatty acids or their salts or esters, such as lactic, acetic, fumaric, propionic, butyric, succinic acids.
Thus, all of the Bioremediation Enhancing Agents (BEAs), including both the yeast derived products and the polysaccharides, increase fermentation rates and, where tested, increased the kinetics and efficiencies of electron donor utilization.
In the case of the VFA screening test, all BEAs tested improved the lactate fermentation rates. The Yeast Metabolites, Mixed Yeast Culture and Polysaccharides gave superior results for propionate to acetate molar ratios. The Live Yeast Cultures improved over time and given more time, all three Live Yeast Cultures would likely have also generated better propionate to acetate ratios as compared to lactate. By day 11, two of the three Live Yeast Cultures did outperform the lactate control. It is possible that the Live Yeast Cultures were generating anaerobic yeast metabolites over time in-situ. In Set G, the Yeast Metabolites outperformed the Polysaccharides on contaminant degradation rates and on the efficiency of electron donor utilization. Set C shows that Yeast Metabolites outperformed Yeast Extracts and a proprietary Vitamin mix. The superior Yeast Metabolites performance as compared to the other commercially available nutrients is especially significant because the usage rate for the YM is much lower than the Yeast Extract and the Vitamin mix. Based on the results of the screening test, Yeast Metabolites as a class of compounds are the most preferred BEAs as compared to all the other BEAs tested.
As disclosed here, the Yeast Metabolites in the form of 1% YM2, 10% YM2 and YM1 all demonstrate superior metabolic kinetics and efficiency in these microcosms. YM2 nutrient may be supplemented from about 0.1% to about 20%. Higher than 20% Nutrient may be used but the total cost will be significantly higher. The beneficial effects of YM and other yeast products and polysaccharides may apply to other electron donors as well. Thus, the disclosed methodology may be applied to improving bioremediation of both anaerobic as well as aerobic processes in water and extend from in-situ treatment of contaminated ground water to surface and or process waters.
All seven of the novel electron donors for bioremediation, namely, Erythorbate Mother Liquor (ML) (Set B), Lactic Acid Solids (Set D), Crude Glycerol (Set E), Citric Acid and salts thereof (Set E), Gluconic Acid and salts thereof (Set F), Erythorbate and salts thereof (Set F) and Polysaccharides (Set G) show the capacity to dechlorinate PCE all the way to ethene, with the caveat that all seven appear to be slower and less efficient than lactate in facilitating the bioremediation process as described herein. Molasses also demonstrates the capacity to dechlorinate PCE all the way to ethene, albeit slower and less efficient than lactate.
The following examples illustrate the present invention. These examples are provided for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to be limiting. The chemicals and other ingredients are presented as typical components or reactants, and various modifications may be derived in view of the foregoing disclosure within the scope of the invention.
All Bioremediation Microcosms described in the Examples contain the components that are in the size suitable for a laboratory setting. It is important to note that these small scale experiments disclosed herein may be scaled up and the principle of operation and the proportion of each component in the system may equally apply to a large-scale bioremediation system. Each specific formulation was run in triplicate and each bottle was sampled for PCE and daughter products at several different times during the PCE degradation. The number of points and times of the sampling were selected to be able to monitor the reduction in PCE and the subsequent increase and then degradation of the daughter products. Unless otherwise specified, the percentages of components used in this disclosure are on a w/w basis.
Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) generation microcosm tests were used to characterize the rate of propionate generation, the absolute level of propionate generation and the molar ratio of propionate to acetate, a proxy for electron donor efficiency. The triplicate bottles were sampled five times over the first 11 days of the test.
The screening test evaluated the fermentation of sodium lactate amended with various yeast products and polysaccharides (bioremediation nutrients) in the presence of PCE. The nutrient amended lactate may be prepared by adding 3.9 g of bioremediation nutrient to 250 ml of sodium lactate 60% solution. The following bioremediation nutrients were evaluated in the screening tests:
The following components were used in the system for the VFA Screening Test:
The fermentation rate of the lactate of all eight of the bioremediation nutrients out-performed that of lactate as shown in
Using the maximum lactate fermentation rate as shown in
The EDY1 and the YC1 fermented lactate the slowest.
The propionate generation shown in
Again the YM3, MCY1 and PS2 generated propionate the fastest, but the other 5 nutrients started generating significant amounts of propionate by the eleventh day with the live yeast cultures generating most of their propionate after the seventh day.
The acetate generation shown in
Again the YM3, MCY1 and PS2 generated acetate the fastest, but the other 5 nutrients started generating significant amounts of acetate by the eleventh day with the live yeast cultures generating most of their acetate after the seventh day. LYC1 generated the most acetate by the eleventh day.
The ratio of propionate to acetate generation may be a proxy for how efficiently the microorganisms will utilize the electron donor for dehalogenation processes. In this case,
The following components were used in the system for bioremediating contaminated ground water microcosms in Examples 2-8:
The first set of microcosms used sodium lactate as the electron donor at 7 mM in all the bottles. The four replicates were as follows:
The objective of this set was to characterize the improvement in kinetics from adding different levels of the YM2. The No Lactate bottles were used to determine if the YM2 on matrix alone could also be utilized as electron donor. In the case of the yeast metabolite, the yeast metabolite may be added according to the following procedure. One gram (1% YM2) or 10 grams (10% YM2) is added to 100 ml of water, agitated and allowed to come to equilibrium, then 1 ml of the resulting solution is added to the microcosm. In the case of nutrients in powder form, the powder may be added to the microcosms directly.
Tables 1-4 show the kinetic results, and include concentrations of PCE and its daughter products, Chloride generation (Cl−) and Chloride Rate (Cl− Rate) and the associated standard deviation (s.d.) of results from the three bottle triplicates.
Table 5 shows the paired t-test results for the comparisons of lactate control with out YM, Lactate with 1% YM2 and Lactate with 10% Nutrient.
Set A Results:
All the replicates containing lactate showed good dechlorination activity. The rates of degradation were enhanced by the addition of the YM2. The reaction rate for the 10% YM2 was the fastest followed by the 1% YM2 and the Lactate Control. The YM2 as electron donor replicate demonstrated very low levels of dechlorination activity and fairly low biological activity in general. To greater than 99.88% and 99.99% probability, the 1% YM2 and 10% YM2 samples had increased dechlorination rates as compared to the Lactate Control. The Relative Rate in the 1% YM2 set was 22% faster than the Lactate Control and 45% faster in the 10% YM2 set.
The second set of microcosms used Erythorbate ML as the electron donor at 1020 mg/L initial concentration. The Erythorbate ML is the supernatant that remains after the recrystalization of Erythorbate from the mother liquor. The Erythorbate ML contains a mixture of 2 Keto-Gluconic Acid, Sodium Erythorbate and residual sugars like xylose, arabinose and succinate.
The objective of this set was to demonstrate that the YM2 would increase the microbial metabolic kinetics irrespective of which electron donor was used. In addition, this set was used to characterize if and to what extent Erythorbate ML was an efficacious electron donor for anaerobic bioremediation of contaminants in water.
Tables 6-8 show the kinetic results, and include concentrations of PCE and its daughter products, Chloride generation and Chloride Rate and the associated standard deviation of results from the three bottle triplicates.
Table 9 shows the paired t-test results for the comparisons of Erythorbate ML with Erythorbate ML with YM2.
Table 10 and
Set B Results:
Although the Erythorbate ML dechlorination kinetics was slower than the lactate control, Erythorbate ML was an efficacious electron donor, completely dechlorinating the PCE to ethene. When comparing the bioremediation rate with and without YM2, there is better than a 99.89% probability that the Erythorbate ML with 1% YM2 was statistically faster than without YM2. The Relative Rate increased 44% with the addition of the YM2.
The Efficiency of electron donor utilization with Erythorbate was also lower as compared to lactate, but the addition of the 1% YM2 improved that utilization by 84%.
The objective of Set C was to characterize and differentiate the YM kinetics and electron donor utilization from two common, commercially available Nutrients all using 7 mmole lactate as the electron donor. The four replicates in this set included:
Lactate Control
Lactate+1% YM2
Tables 11-14 show the kinetic results, and include concentrations of PCE and its daughter products, Chloride generation and Chloride Rate and the associated standard deviation of results from the three bottle triplicates.
Table 15 shows the paired t-test results for the comparisons of Lactate with Yeast Extract, Lactate with Wolf's Mixture, Lactate with 1% YM2, and Lactate Control.
Table 16 and
Set C Results:
All the replicates showed good dechlorination activity. The rates of degradation were enhanced by the addition of the YM2, the Yeast Extract, and the Wolf's Mixture. The reaction rate for the 1% YM2 was the fastest followed by the Wolf's Mixture, Yeast Extract, and finally the Lactate Control.
To greater than 99.50% probability, the 1% YM2 samples had increased dechlorination rates as compared to the Lactate Control. The Relative Rate of the 1% YM2 set was 5.4% faster than the Lactate Control. The improved rate of dechlorination for the 1% YM2 over the Yeast Extract and Wolf's Mixture was not statistically significant. However, the 1% YM2 improved the Relative Efficiency of lactate (electron donor) utilization by 36% as compared with the Lactate Control.
The fourth set of microcosms used Lactic Acid Solid as the electron donor at 1,150 mg/L initial concentration. Lactic Acid Solids is a mixture of lactic acid, oligimers of lactic acid and residual sugars. A typical composition of Lactic Acid Solids would be 30-50% oligimers of lactic acid, 20-50% simple sugars (maltose, dextrose, etc.) and 0-15% lactic acid.
The objective of this set was to demonstrate that the YM1 would increase the microbial metabolic kinetics for a slow release electron donor (Lactic Acid Solids). In addition, this set was used to characterize if and to what extent the Lactic Acid Solids was an efficacious electron donor for anaerobic bioremediation of contaminants in water.
Tables 17-19 show the kinetic results, and include concentrations of PCE and its daughter products, Chloride generation and Chloride Rate and the associated standard deviation of results from the three bottle triplicates.
Table 20 shows the paired t-test results for the comparisons of Lactic Acid Solids with Lactic Acid Solids plus YM1.
Table 21 and
Set D Results:
The Lactic Acid Solids dechlorination kinetics was faster than the lactate control and was an efficacious electron donor, completely dechlorinating the PCE to ethene. When comparing the bioremediation rate with and without YM1, there is better than a 92.23% probability that the Lactic Acid Solids with 1% YM1 was statistically faster than without YM1. The Relative Rate increased 3.2% with the addition of the YM1.
However, the YM1 improved the Efficiency of the Lactic Acid Solids (electron donor) utilization by 28% when compared with the Lactic Acid Solids without YM1.
The fifth set tested a variety of different electron donors comparing Crude Glycerin, Sodium Citrate, Ethanol and Whey all charged at nominally 1,000 mg/L to lactate at 7 mM (784 mg/L).
The objective of the study was to test bioremediation amendments for efficacy as electron donors as well as to characterize their Efficiency for dechlorination as compared to the Lactate Control.
Set E: Results
The two novel electron donors, Crude Glycerin and Sodium Citrate both showed the ability to completely dechlorinate PCE. The sodium citrate was almost as fast and 84% as efficient as the Lactate Control. Crude Glycerine on the other had was much slower and much of its mass was utilized for non-dechlorination processes. It was only 12% as efficient as the Lactate Control.
Set F included microcosms that contained Sodium Gluconate and Sodium Erythorbate. They started at concentrations that were nominally 1,000 mg/L as compared with the sodium lactate control at 7 mM (784 mg/L).
The objective of this set was to characterize the ability of these two novel bioremediation electron donors to completely dechlorinate PCE and characterize the electron donor utilization efficiency as compared with sodium lactate.
Set G contained microcosms that tested two different Yeast Metabolites (YM3 and YM4) and a Polysaccharide (PS1) for kinetics and efficiency of electron donor utilization using lactate and molasses as the electron donors. PS1 was also tested as an electron donor by itself.
Lactate at 11.2 mM (1,000 mg/L) and nutrient amendment at 1% of the electron donor levels (˜10 mg/L). Triplicate bottles received 2 micro liters of PCE and 2 ml of inoculum. The bottles were sampled 5 times over a 138 day period.
Tables 22-25 show the kinetic results and includes concentrations of PCE and its daughter products, Chloride generation and Chloride Rate and the associated standard deviation of results from the three bottle triplicates.
Set G Results
Because of the lag in the PS1 and molasses, they had the least complete dechlorination through 138 days. Addition of the YM3 to the molasses increased the dechlorination kinetics significantly.
Tables 29-31 show that the YM4, PS1 and YM3 all generated statistically significant increases in dechlorination kinetics.
Table 32 showed that Lactate was statistically higher dechlorination kinetics as compared to PS1 and molasses.
Table 33 showed that Lactate was statistically more efficient an electron donor as compared to PS1 and molasses. It also shows that YM4 and PS1 amended electron donors are much more efficient than their unamended counterparts.
The following references and patents and publication of patent applications are either cited in this disclosure or are of relevance to the present disclosure. All documents listed below, along with other papers, patents and publication of patent applications cited throughout this disclosures, are hereby incorporated by reference as if the full contents are reproduced herein:
This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/895,340 filed on Mar. 16, 2007, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/914,524 filed on Apr. 27, 2007, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/972,455 filed on Sep. 14, 2007, and the contents of all three applications are hereby incorporated into this application by reference.
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