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Soil Remediation (soil + remediation)
Selected AbstractsExocellular electron transfer in anaerobic microbial communitiesENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006Alfons J. M. Stams Summary Exocellular electron transfer plays an important role in anaerobic microbial communities that degrade organic matter. Interspecies hydrogen transfer between microorganisms is the driving force for complete biodegradation in methanogenic environments. Many organic compounds are degraded by obligatory syntrophic consortia of proton-reducing acetogenic bacteria and hydrogen-consuming methanogenic archaea. Anaerobic microorganisms that use insoluble electron acceptors for growth, such as iron- and manganese-oxide as well as inert graphite electrodes in microbial fuel cells, also transfer electrons exocellularly. Soluble compounds, like humic substances, quinones, phenazines and riboflavin, can function as exocellular electron mediators enhancing this type of anaerobic respiration. However, direct electron transfer by cell,cell contact is important as well. This review addresses the mechanisms of exocellular electron transfer in anaerobic microbial communities. There are fundamental differences but also similarities between electron transfer to another microorganism or to an insoluble electron acceptor. The physical separation of the electron donor and electron acceptor metabolism allows energy conservation in compounds as methane and hydrogen or as electricity. Furthermore, this separation is essential in the donation or acceptance of electrons in some environmental technological processes, e.g. soil remediation, wastewater purification and corrosion. [source] SUBCRITICAL WATER EXTRACTION OF CAFFEINE FROM BLACK TEA LEAF OF IRANJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2008ANVAR SHALMASHI ABSTRACT This study examines subcritical water extraction (SCWE) of caffeine from black tea leaf. The effects of various operating conditions such as water temperature (100, 125, 150 and 175C), water flow rate (1, 2 and 4 g/min), mean particle size (0.5, 1 and 2 mm) on extraction yield and rate were determined. SCWE at 175C, water flow rate of 2 g/min and mean particle size of 0.5 mm were found to be able to recover 3.82% (w/w) of caffeine present in the black tea leaf within 3 h of extraction. In comparison to the SCWE, conventional hot water extraction showed 3.30% (w/w) extraction yield. It was found also that pressure had no effect on extraction yield and rate. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Recently, subcritical water has become of great interest as an alternative solvent for extraction of natural active compounds. Subcritical water, as a green solvent, can be used in many different fields of applications. In recent years, extraction of flavors, fragrances and antioxidant components from plant materials, and hydrolysis of carbohydrates, vegetable oils and fatty acids have been widely investigated by many researchers. Using subcritical water for analytical purposes, for soil remediation and applying it as a reaction media are some other interesting fields for practical applications. Subcritical water is an excellent solvent for caffeine as well as many other organic compounds but is safer than the organic solvents that are used for caffeine extraction. [source] Microwaves in soil remediation from VOCs.AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2004Abstract This work presents the design of a microwave opened applicator useful to perform the Microwave Induced Steam Distillation (MISD) process for soil remediation treatments. The prototype has been also realized and used to irradiate a 40 x 30 cm area with a given electromagnetic field distribution. Experiments carried out by in situ operations on a soil contaminated with VOC's are reported. Finally, the experimental data collected are described by a mathematical model previously proposed. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50:722,732, 2004 [source] Arsenic and thallium data in environmental samples: Fact or fiction?REMEDIATION, Issue 4 2010Susan D. Chapnick Matrix effects may increasingly lead to erroneous environmental decisions as regulatory limits or risk-based concentrations of concern for trace metals move lower toward the limits of analytical detection. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Technical Standards Alert estimated that environmental data reported using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP-AES) has a false-positive rate for thallium of 99.9 percent and for arsenic of 25 to 50 percent. Although this does not seem to be widely known in the environmental community, using three case studies, this article presents data in environmental samples that demonstrate severe matrix effects on the accuracy of arsenic and thallium results. Case Study 1 involves soil results with concentrations that approached or exceeded the applicable regulatory soil cleanup objectives of 13 mg/kg for arsenic and 2 mg/kg for thallium. Reanalysis using ICP coupled with a mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) confirmed all thallium results were false positives and all arsenic results were biased high, concluding no action was required for soil remediation. Case Study 2 involves groundwater results for thallium at a Superfund site, where thallium was detected in groundwater up to 21.6 , g/L using ICP-AES. Reanalysis by ICP-MS reported thallium as nondetect below the applicable regulatory level in all samples. ICP-MS is usually a more definitive and accurate method of analysis compared to ICP-AES; however, this is not always the case, as we demonstrate in Case Study 3, using data from groundwater samples at an industrial site. Through a weight-of-evidence approach, it is demonstrated that although method quality control results were acceptable, interferences in some groundwater samples caused biased high results for arsenic using ICP-MS, which were significantly lower when reanalyzed using hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Causes of these interference effects and conclusions from the three case studies to obtain accurate metal data for site assessment, risk characterization, and remedy selection are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Sustainable soil remediation by refrigerated condensation at sites with "high-concentration" recalcitrant compounds and NAPL: Two case studiesREMEDIATION, Issue 1 2008Lowell Kessel Remediation of recalcitrant compounds at sites with high concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs) can present significant technical and financial (long-term) risk for stakeholders. Until recently, however, sustainability has not been included as a significant factor to be considered in the feasibility and risk evaluation for remediation technologies. The authors present a framework for which sustainability can be incorporated into the remediation selection criteria focusing specifically on off-gas treatment selection for soil vapor extraction (SVE) remediation technology. SVE is generally considered an old and standard approach to in situ remediation of soils at a contaminated site. The focus on off-gas treatment technology selection in this article allows for more in-depth analysis of the feasibility evaluation process and how sustainable practices might influence the process. SVE is more commonly employed for recovery of VOCs from soils than other technologies and generally employs granular activated carbon (GAC), catalytic, or thermal oxidation, or an emerging alternative technology known as cryogenic-compression and condensation combined with regenerative adsorption (C3,Technology). Of particular challenge to the off-gas treatment selection process is the potential variety of chemical constituents and concentrations changing over time. Guidance is available regarding selection of off-gas treatment technology (Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence, 1996; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2006). However, there are common shortcomings of off-gas treatment technology guidance and applications; practitioners have rarely considered sustainability and environmental impact of off-gas treatment technology selection. This evaluation includes consideration of environmental sustainability in the selection of off-gas treatment technologies and a region-specific (Los Angeles, California) cost per pound and time of remediation comparisons between GAC, thermal oxidation, and C3,Technology. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Perimeter air monitoring for soil remediationREMEDIATION, Issue 4 2007Guy J. Graening Most environmental project managers are well versed in characterizing and remediating contaminants in soil and water media. When soil remediation activities are conducted at an environmental site, however, some project managers are faced with monitoring contaminants in the air medium for the first time. Remediation activities can disturb contaminants that are normally immobile in soil and transfer them to air. The resulting increase in airborne concentrations of contaminants, even if temporary, may be a health concern for individuals in neighboring residences or businesses. Perimeter air monitoring may be required by a regulatory agency to determine if unhealthy conditions are created and if work practices should be limited or modified. This article serves as a resource for project managers involved in perimeter air monitoring for soil remediation and provides a general summary of candidate sites, remediation activities that release contaminants, regulatory requirements, equipment and target contaminants, monitoring locations and schedule, analytical methods, and data interpretation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Microbial bio-production of a recombinant stimuli-responsive biosurfactantBIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 1 2009W. Kaar Abstract Biosurfactants have been the subject of recent interest as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived compounds in areas ranging from soil remediation to personal and health care. The production of naturally occurring biosurfactants depends on the presence of complex feed sources during microbial growth and requires multicomponent enzymes for synthesis within the cells. Conversely, designed peptide surfactants can be produced recombinantly in microbial systems, enabling the generation of improved variants by simple genetic manipulation. However, inefficient downstream processing is still an obstacle for the biological production of small peptides. We present the production of the peptide biosurfactant GAM1 in recombinant E. coli. Expression was performed in fusion to maltose binding protein using chemically defined minimal medium, followed by a single-step affinity capture and enzymatic cleavage using tobacco etch virus protease. Different approaches to the isolation of peptide after cleavage were investigated, with special emphasis on rapid and simple procedures. Solvent-, acid-, and heat-mediated precipitation of impurities were successfully applied as alternatives to post-cleavage chromatographic peptide purification, and gave peptide purities exceeding 90%. Acid precipitation was the method of choice, due to its simplicity and the high purification factor and recovery rate achieved here. The functionality of the bio-produced peptide was tested to ensure that the resulting peptide biosurfactant was both surface active and able to be triggered to switch between foam-stabilizing and foam-destabilizing states. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 176,187. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||