Biological Reduction of Nitrate and Perchlorate in Soil Microcosms: An Electron Donor Comparison of Glycerol, Emulsified Oil, and Mulch Extract

Authors

Mayra Sarria, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
John Michael Gonzales, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Daniel Gerrity, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Jacimaria Batista, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-5-2018

Publication Title

Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation

First page number:

1

Last page number:

11

Abstract

Diverse technologies have been developed and tested for their efficacy in remediating perchlorate‐contaminated surface water, groundwater, and soil. Biological reduction, particularly when coupled with electron donor augmentation, has been shown to be one of the most cost‐effective alternatives. Numerous electron donors have been evaluated in the literature, but few studies have compared standard vs. slow‐release electron donors for sequential nitrate and perchlorate reduction. This study evaluated the efficacy and kinetics of biological reduction in soil microcosms augmented with emulsified oil (EO), glycerol, and mulch extract. Results indicated that EO and glycerol spiked at approximately 100 times stoichiometric excess (i.e., 100x) achieved similar overall reductions and degradation rates for nitrate and perchlorate, although nitrate appeared to exhibit zero order kinetics while perchlorate exhibited first order kinetics. The zero order rate constants for nitrate reduction were 3.32 mg/L d and 2.57 mg/L d for EO and glycerol, respectively. The first order rate constant for perchlorate reduction was 0.36 day−1 for both EO and glycerol. Stable chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations also highlighted the slow‐release properties of EO, which would reduce electron donor consumption in comparison to soluble substrates in soil remediation applications. The microcosms augmented with mulch extract failed to demonstrate any nitrate or perchlorate reduction due to the extract's lower COD concentration. Augmentation with compost or additional processing (i.e., concentration) would be necessary to make the extract a viable alternative.

Disciplines

Environmental Engineering

Language

English

Repository Citation

Sarria, M., Gonzales, J. M., Gerrity, D., Batista, J. (2018). Biological Reduction of Nitrate and Perchlorate in Soil Microcosms: An Electron Donor Comparison of Glycerol, Emulsified Oil, and Mulch Extract. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation 1-11.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gwmr.12315