Sewage enhanced bioelectrochemical degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in soil environment through bioelectro-stimulation.

The impact of readily biodegradable substrates (sewage and acetate) in bioelectroremediation of hydrocarbons (PW) was evaluated in a bench-scale soil-based hybrid bioelectrochemical system. Addition of bioelectro-stimulants evidenced efficient degradation than control operation. Acetate and sewage were exhibited power density of 1126 mW/m and 1145 mW/m, respectively, which is almost 15 % higher than control (without stimulant, 974 mW/m).

Review on the production of medium and small chain fatty acids through waste valorization and CO fixation.

The developing approaches in the recovery of resources from biowastes for the production of renewable value-added products and fuels, using microbial cultures as bio-catalyst have now became promising aspect. In the path of anaerobic digestion, the microorganisms are assisting transformation of a complex organic feedstock/waste to biomass and biogas. This potentiality consequently leads to the production of intermediate precursors of renewable value-added products.

Characterization of Cellobiohydrolases from KMJ820.

A novel cellobiohydrolase (CBH)-generating fungi have been isolated and categorized as KMJ820 based on morphology and rDNA gene sequence. Cellulose powder was used as carbon source, the total enzyme activity was 11.51 U/ml is noted; which is among the highest amounts of CBH-generating microbes studied.

Effects of dissolved organic phase composition and salinity on the engineered sulfate application in a flow-through system.

Engineered sulfate application has been proposed as an effective remedy to enhance the rate-limited biodegradation of petroleum-hydrocarbon-contaminated subsurface environments, but the effects of dissolved organic phase composition and salinity on the efficiency of this method are unknown. A series of flow-through experiments were conducted for 150 days and dissolved benzene, toluene, naphthalene, and 1-methylnaphthalene were injected under sulfate-reducing and three different salinity conditions for 80 pore volumes. Then, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were omitted from the influent solution and just dissolved benzene and toluene were injected to investigate the influence of dissolved phase composition on treatment efficiency.

A microbial fuel cell configured for the remediation of recalcitrant pollutants in soil environment.

A pristine soil environment supports a healthy soil biodiversity, which is often polluted with recalcitrant compounds. The bioelectrochemical remediation of the contaminated soils using bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) is gaining significant attention with respect to the restoration of the soil ecosystem. In this direction, a microbial fuel cell (MFC, an application of BES), was employed for the treatment of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in a soil microenvironment at three ranges of pollution (loading conditions - 320, 590 and 840 mg TPH per L).

Removal of petroleum hydrocarbons and sulfates from produced water using different bioelectrochemical reactor configurations.

Produced water (PW) is a wastewater generated in large quantities from the extraction of oil and gas. PW found to have high amounts of dissolved solids (TDS) and residual petroleum hydrocarbons causing considerable damage to the environment. PW also contains sulfates in significant amounts, due to which treating this wastewater is essential prior to discharge.

Sorption of benzene and naphthalene on (semi)-arid coastal soil as a function of salinity and temperature.

Considerable activities from the oil and natural gas sector have risen some concerns about the pollution of soil and groundwater by petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) in (semi)-arid coastal regions. The understanding of the fate and transport of PHCs in these regions is therefore necessary to develop strategies for remediation. To quantify the sorption rates of PHCs in (semi)-arid coastal soil environments, we conducted a series of controlled-laboratory batch experiments under variable temperature and salinity conditions.

Cylindrical graphite based microbial fuel cell for the treatment of industrial wastewaters and bioenergy generation.

Cylindrical graphite microbial fuel cell (MFC) configuration designed by eliminating distinct casing and membrane was evaluated for bioelectrogenesis and treatment of real-field wastewaters. Both petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) and Labanah whey wastewater (LW) were used as substrates, and investigated for electricity generation and organic removal under batch mode operation. PRW showed higher bioelectricity generation (current and power generation of 3.

Induced bioelectrochemical metabolism for bioremediation of petroleum refinery wastewater: Optimization of applied potential and flow of wastewater.

Hybrid based bioelectrochemical system (BES) configured with embedded anode and cathode electrodes in soil was tested for the bioelectrochemical degradation of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW). Four applied potentials were studied to optimize under batch mode operation, among which 2 V resulted in higher COD degradation (69.2%) and power density (725 mW/m) during 7 days of operation.

Enhanced treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater by short-term applied voltage in single chamber microbial fuel cell.

Electrochemically active anodic biofilm that has adapted under mild applied potentials in the range 100-500 mV was evaluated for its improved bioelectrogenesis and bioelectrochemical treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater (PRW) in a single chamber air cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC). MFC operation with 500 mV as supplemental voltage has exhibited a maximum power density of 132 mW/m, which was three times higher than control MFC (45 mW/m). Similarly, highest substrate removal efficiency (48%) was also obtained with the MFC of 500 mV, followed by 300 mV (37%), 100 mV (32%) and control (27%).

Experimental investigation of the influence of grain geometry on residual NAPL using synchrotron microtomography.

The objective of this work was to investigate the impact of grain geometry (size and shape) of porous media on the morphology of residual NAPL. Synchrotron microtomography was used to obtain maps of residual NAPL in multiphase systems. High-resolution, three-dimensional images of natural sand systems, comprising a range of grain sizes and shapes were imaged and analyzed.

Impact of wettability on pore-scale characteristics of residual nonaqueous phase liquids.

The objective of this paper was to investigate the impact of wettability of porous media on pore-scale characteristics of residual nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). Synchrotron X-ray microtomography was used to obtain high-resolution three-dimensional images of fractionally wet sand systems with mean grain size of 250 microm. Pore-scale characteristics of NAPL blobs such as volume, lengths, interfacial areas, and sphericity index were computed using three-dimensional image processing algorithms.

A pore-scale investigation of a multiphase porous media system.

Pore-scale processes govern fundamental behavior in multiphase porous media systems. A high-resolution, three-dimensional image of the interior of a multiphase porous media system was obtained using synchrotron X-ray tomography. The system was imaged at a resolution of 12.