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A research note on the recalcitrance of carbon dioxide gas scrubbing compounds to biodegradation processes
Author(s) -
Guerin Turlough F.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
remediation journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6831
pISSN - 1051-5658
DOI - 10.1002/rem.21530
Subject(s) - biodegradation , pulp and paper industry , microbial inoculant , chemistry , data scrubbing , carbon dioxide , microorganism , microbial consortium , waste management , environmental chemistry , extraction (chemistry) , environmental science , chromatography , bacteria , organic chemistry , biology , engineering , genetics
A laboratory study was conducted to determine the feasibility of biotreatment of liquid Sulfinol waste stored at a gas treatment facility. Sulfinol is used to scrub impurities from gas generated from both traditional gas extraction and that from hydraulic fracturing processes. Chemical characterization and microbiological assessment showed that cultures of Sulfinol‐degrading microorganisms could be enriched from Sulfinol‐contaminated soil containing saturated concentrations of Sulfinol: a mixture of di‐isopropanolamine (DiPA), sulfolane, and oxazolidone. Based on this initial finding from the enrichment culture study, batch reactors were incubated with inoculants from enrichment cultures containing known numbers of presumptive Sulfinol‐degrading microorganisms. The microbial analyses of liquors from batch reactors showed microbial inhibition and/or loss of viability due to Sulfinol toxicity, even at the lowest Sufinol waste concentration used (5 percent of the original waste). The changes in concentrations of the chemicals in the batch reactor trials were a result of chemical rather than biodegradation processes. Further research is recommended to develop repeatable strategies for biodegrading the constituents of Sulfinol under field conditions.