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Pollution & Bioremediation > Bioremediation > Flashcards

Bioremediation Flashcards

1
Q

ppm

A

mg/kg or L of sample

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2
Q

ppb

A

ug/kg or L of sample

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3
Q

TPH

A

Total petroleum hydrocarbons

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4
Q

4 common modes of biodegradation of organic compounds

A
  1. cellular metabolism
  2. detoxifying enzymatic reactions
  3. non-enzymatic reactions
  4. cometabolism
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5
Q

Catabolism

A

C used as NRG source, CO2 released

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6
Q

Anabolism

A

C converted to biomass

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7
Q

Detoxifying enzymatic reactions

A

Antibiotic degradation, metal transformations

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8
Q

Non-enzymatic reactions

A

By-products of microbial metabolism changing environmental conditions

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9
Q

Cometabolism

A

Compound modified but not used for generation of energy or biomass

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10
Q

Of the various remediation technologies, what is the most/least expensive

A

Incineration is most, bioremediation is the least

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11
Q

Conventional remediation technologies

A

Incineration, containment, chemical additions and soil washing… excavation is often the first step

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12
Q

How are sites remediated using chemical additions

A

Chelating agents or hydrogen peroxide addition

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13
Q

What are examples of containment

A

Landfill, land farming, solidification/stabilization

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14
Q

What is the downside to conventional remediation strategies?

A

Pollutants may be converted to another form or moved to another environment

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15
Q

Why is bioremediation better than conventional strategies

A

Pollutants are destroyed, cost is lower

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16
Q

What are the two divisions of in situ bioremediation

A

Intrinsic and enhanced

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17
Q

Intrinsic bioremediation

A

Rely on existing microbes

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18
Q

What are some downsides to intrinsic bioremediation

A

Slow, requires comprehensive monitoring program

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19
Q

What are two divisions of enhanced bioremediation

A

Bioaugmentation and biostimulation

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20
Q

Bioaugmentation

A

Addition of microbes

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21
Q

Biostimulation

A

Addition of O2 or another electron acceptor, or addition of fertilizers or inducers

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22
Q

What are 4 things that need to be considered when performing a bioremediation assessment study

A
  1. are the contaminants biodegradable
  2. are degrative microbes present
  3. are the environment parameters optimal for degradation
  4. what are some limiting parameters
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23
Q

Phase 1 of a bioremediation assessment

A

Use of controls and methods for detection of pollutants or bio-degradation end-products, detecting and quantifying pollutant-degrading microorganisms (lab tests)

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24
Q

What is a biopile?

A

A collection of contaminated soil in which fertilizers and air are pumped into to enhance biodegradation

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25
Q

What is bioventing in contaminated aquifers?

A

A vacuum is applied to bore holes to pump in oxygen, promote air flow, and pump out fumes which are collected for treatment

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26
Q

What is biosparging

A

Air is pumped into the groundwater zone to increase aerobic activity

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27
Q

What is needed for biosparging to work?

A

A porous environment

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28
Q

What is the difference between biosparging and bioventing

A

Bioventing pumps air into the unsaturated (vadose) zone, whereas biosparging pumps air into the groundwater zone

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29
Q

What is a permeable reactive barrier

A

A barrier used in shallow aquifers that contains metals/chemicals that degrade the contaminant when it comes in contact with it

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30
Q

What are 3 primary removal methods associated with permeable reactive barriers?

A
  1. sorption/precipitation
  2. chemical reaction
  3. biodegradation
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31
Q

What is phytoremediation?

A

Adding a plant to contaminated soil that has associated microbes that degrade the contaminant

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32
Q

What are some benefits to phytoremediation?

A

Looks good to the public, inexpensive, can occur in situ, production of biomass

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33
Q

What are some cons to phytoremediation

A

Slow, hard to predict, difficult to treat multi-contaminated sites

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34
Q

What is the major source of oil released into the oceans?

A

Drains

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35
Q

What is Alcanivorax borkumensis?

A

An obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium – sole source of energy is hydrocarbons

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36
Q

What is a biosurfactant

A

A chemical produced by a bacterium to help with the emulsification of oil

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37
Q

What are some fates of an oil spill in a marine environment

A

Oil washed back into sea, oil slicks on shore, sedimentation, evaporation, mousse formation, suspended oil particles

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38
Q

What are some remediation treatment options for marine oil spills

A

In situ burning, dispersants, physical recovery, photooxidation, biodegradation

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39
Q

What was significant about the clean up of the EVOS?

A

It was the first time bioremediation was used for an oil spill on such a large scale

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40
Q

Major steps necessary when cleaning up a beach covered with crude oil

A
  1. clean up bulk by physical means

2. clean up remaining by in situ bioremediation

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41
Q

What are two examples of compounds added to stimulate biodegradation of crude oil on beaches?

A

Inipol EAP 22 and customblen

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42
Q

What is inipol EAP 22

A

An oleic acid fertilizer that sticks to the oil, slow release

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43
Q

What is customblen

A

Source of ammonium nitrate, good for anaerobic zones

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44
Q

What are 3 ways to know if a bioremediation approach was successful?

A
  1. quantify residual oil per area and type of hydrocarbon over time
  2. look for enhanced populations of hydrocarbon degraders using molecular genetics
  3. expect to see a difference between treated and untreated areas
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45
Q

How to test for biodegradation rate

A

Mix sedmient slurry from treated vs untreated areas with 14C labeled hexadecane or phenanthrene (microcosms) and compare the rate of 14CO2 produced over time

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46
Q

What is hexadecane

A

A C16 straight chain alkane used as a model in biodegradation studies

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47
Q

What is phenantherene

A

A 3-ring PAH used as a model PAH in biodegradation studies

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48
Q

What are examples of 2 hydrocarbon degrading genes

A

xylE and alkB

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49
Q

What does xylE encode for

A

catechol 2,3-dioxygenase (degrades aromatics)

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50
Q

What does alkB encode for

A

Alkane hydroxylase (degrades alkanes, usually from C10 to C16)

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51
Q

What is cytochrome P450 CYP153

A

A type of alkane degrading enzyme, commonly found in alkane degrading bacteria that lack AlkB

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52
Q

What were some clean up operations for the BP deepwater horizon oil spill

A

Skimming, burning, dispersants (Corexit 9500), and weathering

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53
Q

What is metagenomics

A

Sequencing of all the DNA from a polluted sample and looking for the biodegradative genes of interest

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54
Q

What is metatranscriptomics

A

Isolate all mRNA from an environmental sample, convert to cDNA, sequence, and compare metagenome
Indicates genes coming from active organisms

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55
Q

What is metaproteomics

A

Isolate all proteins from an environmental sample, sequence, and compare to metagenome
Indicates the genes that are being transcribed (most active)

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56
Q

How are plastics degraded

A

Biofilm formation secretes enzymes (biodeterioration) that fragment (biofragmentation) the plastic into soluble intermediates, then mineralization resulting in microbial biomass, CO2 and H20

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57
Q

What are halogenated compounds?

A

Organic molecules containing Cl, Fl, Br… very recalcitrant

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58
Q

What are some examples of halogenated compounds

A

PCP, 24D, PCBs

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59
Q

What are the 3 general steps of halogenated compound biodegradation

A
  1. Debranching ring-breakage
  2. dehalogenation hydroxylation
  3. ring-cleavage oxidation/reduction
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60
Q

What is the hardest step to do in halogenated compound biodegradation

A

The second step, dehalogenation hydroxylation

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61
Q

Dehalogenation of simple haloaromatic compounds can occur…

A

aerobically or anaerobically

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62
Q

What is an example of aerobic dehalogenation

A

Dehalo of dichloromethane by Hyphomicrobium dehalogenase

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63
Q

What is an example of anaerobic dehalogenation

A

Dehal of 2-chlorobenzoate via mono- or dioxygenases

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64
Q

PCP and PCB biodegradation can occur…

A

aerobically or anaerobically

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65
Q

What is PCP

A

Herbicide, insecticide, disinfectant, wood preservative…. highly toxic

66
Q

How is PCP degraded anaerobically

A

By reductive dichlorination (chops off one Cl at a time)… H2 from other microbial activity acts as electron donor

67
Q

PCB resistance to biodegradation increases with…

A

Number of chloro-substitutions

68
Q

What is the product of aerobic degradation of chlorobiphenyl (PCB)

A

Chlorobenzoic acid (dead end product that accumulates in environment

69
Q

What is 24D

A

Pesticide/herbicide used to control broadleaf weeds… highly toxic, readily biodegraded

70
Q

What are the metabolites of DDT degradation and why do we care

A

DDD and DDE, they are more toxic and recalcitrant than the parent compound

71
Q

How are nitroaromatics degraded

A

Anaerobically, nitro groups are reduced (used as TEAs) and aerobically, nitro groups are cleaved via mono- or dioxygenases

72
Q

What are examples of nitroaromatic compounds and what degrades them

A

TNT and TAT, clostridium and desulfovibrio

73
Q

What is a major problem with the reductive transformation of TNT

A

Metabolites become progressively less biodegradable and more recalcitrant

74
Q

What are some key features of a super bug

A

Tough surface, biosurfactants, multi-functional respiration, high motility, has genes that encode different metabolic pathways

75
Q

What is a problem with introducing GM microbes into the environment

A

Has to compete with existing microbes and it may not work like it does in the lab

76
Q

What is JMS34

A

A GM strain of mircoorganism used to degrade the dead end products of PCB degradation, CBA (chlorobenzoates)

77
Q

How did they create JMS34

A

They combined the chlorobiphenyl and chlorobenzoate/chlorocatechol degradation pathways of two other microorganisms and inserted the genes encoding for it

78
Q

What was the Savannah River Site contaminated with

A

TCE and PCE… common industrial solvents that are highly toxic

79
Q

What was involved in Plan A to remediate the Savannah River

A

Bioventing & air stripping
Two horizontal wells were place to inject oxygen (lower) and extract the gases (upper)
Vertical wells were drilled for sampling

80
Q

What is air stripping

A

A process where a constant air stream is sent through the contaminated ground water to force chemicals from the water into the gas phase

81
Q

What was the hypothesis of plan A in the Savannah River

A

Air will stimulate microorganisms to degrade TCE

82
Q

Why did air stripping fail in the Savannah River?

A

TCE and PCE were not volatile enough under the conditions for it to work, and most microbes known for dehalogenation are anaerobes

83
Q

How are TCE/PCE degraded anaerobically

A

SRB use them as TEA, reductive dehalogenation (dehalorespiration), yields ethene

84
Q

How do methanogens degrade TCE/PCE

A

Anaerobically, reductive dehalogenation yields ethene

85
Q

How do methanotrophs degrade TCE/PCE

A

Aerobically, oxidize methane as an energy source using methane monooxygenase, this can cometabolize TCE

86
Q

Dehalorespiration

A

The use of halogenated compounds as TEAs in anaerobic respiration, yields ethene

87
Q

What is the key reaction in the cometabolize of TCE with methanotrophs

A

The formation of TCE epoxide (unstable)

88
Q

What was involved in plan B of the Savannah River/the hypothesis

A

To stimulate methanotrophs by adding O2 and methane

Hypothesis was that methanotrophic bacteria by methane and air will breakdown TCE via cometabolism

89
Q

Why can PCE not be degraded by methanotrophs

A

PCE cannot be degraded by MMO (produced my methanotrophs) but it can be converted to TCE under anaerobic conditions by SRB and methanogens

90
Q

What was plan C for the Savannah river

A

Add: air, methane, N2O and triethyl phosphate (sources of N and P)

91
Q

What was the result of plan C for the Savannah river

A

Increased methanotrophs, decreased TCE and PCE levels, increase Cl and CO2 evolution

92
Q

What happens when you add organic material to a water source

A

Environment becomes anaerobic as dissolved oxygen concentration decreases, die off of aerobic organisms

93
Q

Autocthonous

A

Indigenous water column organisms

94
Q

Allocthonous

A

Transient water column organisms that are harmless or pathogens

95
Q

What are some fecal bacteria found in waste water

A

Salmonella, shigella, e coli, Vibrio chloera

96
Q

What is the dissolved oxygen concentration in non polluted freshwater vs polluted

A

8-9… 4

97
Q

What happens to the DO and BOD when waste water is added to a aquifer

A

DO decreases and BOD increases

98
Q

What are the zones following the addition of waste water to an aquifer

A

Decomposition, septic, recovery and clean

99
Q

What are some characteristics commonly measured in municipal wastewater

A

Dissolved and suspended solids, BOD, COD and free ammonia

100
Q

BOD

A

Measures amount of O2 required for the aerobic degradation of organic material in a water sample, gives an index of pollution potential

101
Q

BOD is an indirect measure of…

A

Biologically utilizable organic material via determination of dissolved O2 concentration

102
Q

What is the equation for a BOD test

A

BOD = D1 - D2/ P

P - dilution of wastewater sample

103
Q

BOD may include…

A

O2 required for inorganic oxidation, and O2 required by nitrifiers

104
Q

COD

A

The amount of O2 consumed in the complete oxidation of organic matter

105
Q

When will COD be higher than BOD

A

If biologically recalcitrant organic compounds are present

106
Q

The reaction of COD is carried out under…

A

Acidic conditions, employs strong oxidizing agent to oxidize organic compounds to CO2

107
Q

What are 3 objectives of waste water treatment

A

Removal of N/P, removal of pathogenic microbes, reduce organic C content (reduce BOD)

108
Q

Primary and tertiary treatments are…

A

Physical/chemical processes

109
Q

Secondary treatments are…

A

Biological processes

110
Q

What are floculants

A

Aid in solid and colloid settling as well as some phosphate-removal

111
Q

Primary treatment can remove great than….

A

90% of organic matter

112
Q

What is a water clarifier

A

Skims of grease and foam, settled material removed from bottom, clear effluent from top flows into secondary treatment… grit and large debris are removed first

113
Q

What are three divisions of the secondary treatment

A

Activated sludge, trickling filter, sludge digestor

114
Q

What parts of 2nd treatment occur aerobically vs anaerobically

A

Aerobic: activated sludge and trickling filer
Anaerobic: sludge digestor

115
Q

What are three microbial process that occur during aerobic secondary treatments

A

Nitrification, removal of pathogens, removal of nutrients

116
Q

The activated sludge process can reduce BOD by…

A

90% in 4-8 hours

117
Q

What happens in the activated sludge process

A

NPC are converted to biomass (flocs), flocs settle out of solution thus removing BOD, floc is recycled to the next treatment

118
Q

What is a sequence batch reactor

A

Fill with water from primary treatment, react, settle and decant

119
Q

What is bulking

A

A problem in the settling of floc because of an over abundance of filamentous organisms in the sewage population, they hold the flocs apart and prevent settling

120
Q

What causes bulking

A

Nutrients, flooding, seasonal changes, toxic chemical influx, pH changes

121
Q

How can you control bulking

A

Predation by ciliated protozoans on the filamentous bacteria, chemical amendments that may help control bulking species or promote settling

122
Q

What is the concept of a trickling filter

A

Relies on formation of biofilm on the surface of the 2, deep loose gravel, apply highly aerated sewage spray, requires periodic backwash and disposal of sludge… as wastewater flows, nutrients are absorbed by biofilms

123
Q

What is a sludge digestor

A

Similar to septic tank, big tanks that does anaerobic degradation

124
Q

How can sludge digesting be sped up

A

Mix tanks, add heat, recycle ripe sludge, burn the methane produced

125
Q

What are some microbial processes in anaerobic digestion

A

Denitrification, fermentation, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis

126
Q

What happens to the residual sludge from digestors

A

Stabilized, good fertilizer except for heavy metals, usually dewatered and land-filled

127
Q

What happens to the effluent after sludge digestion

A

High BOD, goes back to sewage treatment system (tertiary treatment)

128
Q

Primary and secondary treatment only remove __ of P

A

30%

129
Q

What are charcoal filters

A

Filter, remove organic compounds recalcitrant to biodegradation… burn charcoal after to destroy organics

130
Q

Key points of primary treatment

A

Physical/chemical
Removes suspended solids
Removes 30-40% of BOD
Solid disposal

131
Q

Key points of secondary treatment

A

Biological
Removes dissolved organic substrates, pathogens, NH4
Reduced BOD by 80-90%

132
Q

Key points of tertiary treatment

A

Physical/chemical
Expensive
Reduces recalcitrant organics, PCBs, chlorophenols and PO4

133
Q

What is a sewage pond

A

Natural waste water treatment, slow (7-50 days), requires a lot of land, low maintenance costs
Reduces BOD by 75-95%

134
Q

Aerated lagoon

A

Transfer of air into basins, provides mixing to disperse the air
80-90% removal of BOD in 1-10 days

135
Q

What is a septic tank

A

Anaerobic degradation, similar to sludge digestions

136
Q

Artificial wetlands

A

Agricultural operations use them to replace treatment plants, not practical on the large scale

137
Q

What are some protozoa found in contaminated water

A

Giardia, cryptosporidium

138
Q

Coliform test

A

Detects fecal contamination in water

139
Q

Coliforms

A

Enteric, gram neg, ferment lactose

140
Q

Three stages of coliform test

A

Presumptive, confirmed and completed

141
Q

What are some ways to determine numbers of bacteria in water

A

Filter plate method, direct count method

142
Q

Why do we only test water for e coli

A

Current detection methods do not all for routine analysis of all microorganisms, but e coli is always present in human intestines so its presence would indicate fecal contamination

143
Q

What are the guidelines for total coliforms when greater than 10 water samples are collected

A

No consecutive samples from the same site or no more than 10% of samples should show coliforms

144
Q

MAC are only specified for…

A

E coli and coliforms

145
Q

What are the 4 major steps involved in drinking water purification

A

Sedimentation, coagulation/flocculation, filtration, disinfection (chlorine gas of UV)

146
Q

What are 2 drinking water filtration processes used

A

Rapid and slow sand

147
Q

What is rapid filtration

A

Water most vertically through sand which often has a layer of activated carbon, traps organic C

148
Q

What is slow sand filtration

A

Graded layers of sand, higher removal rates for all microorganisms

149
Q

What are the objectives of disinfection

A

Kill pathogens, remove chemicals, contaminants, suspended solids

150
Q

What are three methods of disinfection

A

Chlorine, ozone, UV irradiation

151
Q

Chlorine disinfection

A

Residual activity, sodium hypochlorite, organic molecules in drinking water become chlorinated forming (THMs, carcinogenic)

152
Q

What is an alternative to chlorine disinfection

A

Monocloroamines, less effective against viruses but much less THMs formed

153
Q

Ozone disinfection

A

No THMs formed, but can form bromate (carcinogenic)

154
Q

UV disinfection

A

Effective but not residual activity, optimization difficult

155
Q

Sweage sludge

A

Residual, semi-solid material left from sewage treatment process

156
Q

Biosolids

A

Sewage sludge that has been treated

157
Q

What can biosolids contain

A

Trace metals, pathogens, organic contaminants, PPCPs, antibiotic resistant material

158
Q

Eutrophication

A

Increase P and N inputs into water bodies from erosion and run-off from agriculture - result in algal blooms

159
Q

Remediation strategies of eutrophic lakes

A

Chemical treatments, dredging lake sediments, ecological restoration (promoting macrophytes)

160
Q

Dead zones

A

Zones of low oxygen areas in the worlds oceans and lakes caused by excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other factors that deplete oxygen

Pollution & Bioremediation (2 decks)

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