Date of Award
8-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Environmental Engineering
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. David Freedman
Committee Member
Dr. Kevin Finneran
Committee Member
Dr. Brian Powell
Abstract
Current biological strategies for remediating trichloroethylene (TCE) in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate constants for the degradation of TCE in microcosms containing soil and groundwater from the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) superfund site, where the pH ranges from 4.1 to 4.9. The 14C-TCE assay was also adapted to calculate soil-normalized rate constants for data from this site, as well as data that Szwast21 collected from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). In addition to natural attenuation, biostimulation through amendments of methane and nutrients were also assessed. This treatment option produced the highest net first-order rate constants ranged from 0.104 to 0.243 yr-1, converting to half-lives of 3 to 7 yr. This confirmed that methanotrophic activity can be an important contributor to aerobic cometabolism of TCE under low pH conditions whenever the microbial community at the site is biostimulated through these amendments.
Recommended Citation
Groome, Evan, "Application of a 14C-Assay to Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation of TCE in Low pH Groundwater" (2022). All Theses. 3848.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/3848
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