Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Anaerobic biodegradation of diesel fuel-contaminated wastewater in a fluidized bed reactor

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Diesel fuel spills have a major impact on the quality of groundwater. In this work, the performance of an Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Reactor (AFBR) treating synthetic wastewater is experimentally evaluated. The wastewater comprises tap water containing 100, 200 and 300 mg/L of diesel fuel and nutrients. Granular, inert, activated carbon particles are employed to provide support for biomass inside the reactor where diesel fuel is the sole source of carbon for anaerobic microorganisms. For different rates of organic loading, the AFBR performance is evaluated in terms of the removal of diesel fuel as well as chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater. For the aforementioned diesel fuel concentrations and a wastewater flow rate of 1,200 L/day, the COD removal ranges between 61.9 and 84.1%. The concentration of diesel fuel in the effluent is less than 50 mg/L, and meets the Level II groundwater standards of the MUST guidelines of Alberta.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Van Stempvoort DR, Lesage S, Novakowski KS, Millar K, Brown S, Lawrence JR (2000) Humic acid enhanced remediation of an emplaced diesel fuel source in groundwater. J Contam Hydrol 54:249–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Health and Welfare Canada (1989) A report of the Federal-Provincial Advisory Committee on Environmental and Occupational Health. Rep. No. EHD-TR-156. Environmental Health Directorate, Ottawa

  3. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) (1990) Toxicological profile for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. TP-90-20

  4. Alberta MUST (1990) Draft subsurface remediation guidelines for Underground Storage Tanks-Draft. Environment Canada-Ontario Region for Federal Facilities operating in Ontario, http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/pollution/ecnpd/tabs/tab05-e.html

  5. Environment Canada (1994) ETC Biennial Report, Environmental Technology Centre Report, Series No. DO 1-93/94, http://www.etc-cte.ec.gc.ca/publications/biennial/birep 1994_e.html#6.2 [Accessed 4 June 2004]

  6. Rehm HJ, Reiff T (1981) Mechanism and occurrence of microbial oxidation of long chain alkanes. Adv Biochem Eng 19:175–215

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Boopathy R (2003) Anaerobic degradation of No. 2 diesel fuel in the wetland sediments of Barataria-Terrebonne estuary under various electron acceptor conditions. Bioresour Technol 86:171–175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bouwer EJ (1992) Bioremediation of organic contaminants in the subsurface. In: Mitchell R (ed) Environmental microbiology. Wiley, New York, pp 287–318

    Google Scholar 

  9. Atlas RM (1981) Microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons: an environmental perspective. Microbiol Rev 45:180–209

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Erickson M (2000) Biodegradation of hydrocarbons in soil and water. Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Biotechnology, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

  11. Huesemann MH (1995) Predictive model for estimating the extent of petroleum hydrocarbon biodegradation in contaminated soils. Environ Sci Technol 29:7–18

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. So CM, Young LY (1999) Isolation and characterization of a sulfate-reducing bacterium that anaerobically degrades alkanes. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:2969–2976

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Coates JD, Anderson RT, Woodward JC, Philips EJ, Lovley DE (1996) Anaerobic degradation in petroleum-contaminated harbor sediments under sulfate-reducing and artificially imposed iron-reducing conditions. Environ Sci Technol 30:2784–2789

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Coates JD, Woodward J, Allen J, Philip P, Lovley DE (1997) Anaerobic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkanes in petroleum-contaminated marine harbor sediments. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:3589–3593

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Lovley DR, Lonergan DK (1990) Anaerobic oxidation of toluene, phenol, and p-cresol by the dissimilatory iron-reducing organisms GS-15. Appl Environ Microbiol 56:1858–1864

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Suidan MT, Wuellner AM, Boyer TK (1991) Anaerobic treatment of a high strength industrial waste bearing inhibitory concentration of 1,1,1-trichloroethane. Water Sci Technol 23:1385–1393

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Moteleb MA, Suidan MT, Kim J, Maloney SW (2002) Pertubated loading of a formaldehyde waste in an anaerobic granular activated carbon fluidized bed reactor. Water Res 36:3775–3785

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Fox P, Suidan MT Bandy JT (1990) A comparison of media types in acetate fed expanded bed anaerobic reactors. Water Res 24:827–35

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Flora JRV, Suidan MT, Wellner AM, Boyer TK (1993) Anaerobic treatment of a simulated high-strength industrial wastewater containing chlorophenols. Res J WEF 26:21–31

    Google Scholar 

  20. Baryshnikova LM, Grishchenkov VG, Arinbasarov MU, Shkidchenko AN, Boronin LM (2001) Biodegradation of oil products by individual degrading strains and their associations in liquid media. Appl Biochem Microbiol 37:463–468

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Huang T, Wei F, Xu S, Gu Y, Qian S (1989) Application of GC/MS in the analysis of diaromatics, polyaromatics and polar compounds of light diesel oil from catalytic cracking. Shiyou Huagong 18:328–333

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Blumer M (1976) Polycyclic aromatic compounds in nature. Sci Amer 234:35–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Song Ch, Hsu ChS, Mochida I (2000) Chemistry of diesel fuels. Taylor & Francis, New York, pp 18

    Google Scholar 

  24. Maier RM, Pepper IL, Gerba CP (2000) Environmental microbiology. Academic, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  25. Miller KM, Suidan MT, Sorial GA, Khododoust AP, Acheson CM, Brenner RC (1998) Anaerobic treatment of soil wash fluids from a wood preserving site. Water Sci Technol 38:63–72

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Fox P (1989) An innovative reactor design for the treatment of biologically inhibitory wastewater. Ph.D. Thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL

  27. APHA, AWWA, WPCF (1995) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. In: Eaton AD, Clesceri LS, Greenberg AE (eds) 19th edn.Washington DC

  28. Vezuli J (2004) Anaerobic degradation of diesel fuel contaminated wastewater in a fluidized bed reactor M.A.Sc. Thesis, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University Toronto

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Water and Wastewater Treatment Technologies, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, M5B 2K3, Toronto, ON, Canada

    M. Alvarez Cuenca, J. Vezuli, A. Lohi & S. R. Upreti

Authors
  1. M. Alvarez Cuenca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Vezuli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Lohi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. R. Upreti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. R. Upreti.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cuenca, M.A., Vezuli, J., Lohi, A. et al. Anaerobic biodegradation of diesel fuel-contaminated wastewater in a fluidized bed reactor. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 29, 29–37 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-006-0053-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-006-0053-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation