BIODEGRADTION

BIO-REMIDIATION

2 words bio + remidiation

biological organism to solve probleam

branch of biotechnology which deals with use of living

organisms such as microbes & bacteria to remove
contaminants , pollutanta & toxins from soil & water

Can be used to clean up enviornmetal problems like an oil

spil or contaminated ground water.
 History
1900 Advent of biological processes to treat organics derived from
human or animal wastes
1950 Approaches to extend wastewater treatment to industrial wastes
1960 Investigations into the bioremediation of synthetic chemicals in
wastewaters
1970 Application in hydrocarbon contamination such as oil spills and
petroleum in groundwater (more pollution than the natural microbial
processes could degrade the pollutants)
1980 Investigations of bioremediation applications for substituted
organics
1990 Natural Attenuation of ’70 and ’90
2000 Development of in situ bioremediation; source zone reduction;
bioaugmentation
2003 Genomics era of Bioremediation
 WORKING MECHANISAM

Microbes eat oil

Or other contami-
natnt
Microbes digest oil
or other
contaminatnt &
convert into
carbon-dioxide &
Microbes give
water
Off co2 &
H2o
 FACTORS AFFECTING
BIOREMEDIATION
1.The existence of a microbial population

The higher degradation microorganism in the soil encourages better

degradation of pollutants in soil.

2.Availability of contaminants:

it refers to the availability of pollutants to the microbial population.

The pollutant in the polluted site should be within the approachable
distance.
Environment Factors
1.Type of Soil:
Removal of contaminant from clay soil is more cumbersome procedure compared
to sandy soil

2.Temperature:
Moderate temperature favors microbial growth thereby facilitate degradation
process.
Higher temperature kills the micro organism and low temperature deactivates
the enzyme.
Hence, these temperatures are not good for degradation process.

3.Soil Reaction:
Neutral and alkaline reaction favors bacterial population which helps
degradation in
comparison to the acidic soil reaction which favors fungus population.

4.Presence of oxygen and nutrients:

Oxygen is essential for respiration and nutrients are essential for the
metabolism in microbes.
As a result, poor oxygen and nutrient status of soil slow down the degradation
process.
 TYPES OF BIOREMIDEATION

There are mainly two types

1.In-situ bioremediation:-
which means contaminated ground water/soil is
treated in the location in which it was found no
need to transport the hazarordus material

2.Ex-situ bioremediation:-
which means requires soil exavation/ground water
pumping & transportation to be treated out of
place
 IN-SITU

BIOVENTING BIOSPARGING BIOAGUMENTATION

involves supplying air & involves the injection of involve the addition of
nutrients to air under pressure microorganisms that
contaminated below water to increase degrade pollutants.
site to stimulate the oxygen Conc & enhance involves both
growth the rate of biological indigenous as well as
of indigenous bacteria degradation exogenous
microorganisms
 EX-SITU

LAND-
COMPOSTING BIOPILE BIOREACTOR
FARMING

a technique
technique
which are the hybrid involves the
involves
contaminated soil farming&compos processing of
combining of
is excavated & ting. In this contaminated
conta-
spread engineered cells solid
minated soil with
over a prepared are constructed material or
Organic
bed & as water
amendments
periodically tilled Aerated through an
until pollutants composted piles engineered
are degraded system
 APPLICATION
1.For degradation of highly toxic metals,chemicals &
other pollutants from environment
2.For cleaning of ground water
3.To increase the capacity of land farming
4.To clean up the oil spils
5.Cleaning of contaminated soil
6.Crime scene clean up
 ADVANTAGES
1.Natural process
2.Used in waste treatment
3. output residues are harmless products (Carbon dioxide
or CO , water, and cell biomass)
4. useful for complete destruction of wide variety of
contaminants.
5. process transforms the hazardous compounds into
harmless products.
6. complete destruction of target pollutants
7. can be carried out without disrupting normal activiti
8.Less expensive
9. potential threats to human health and the environment
are less
 DISADVANTAGES
1.often highly specific and limited to biodegradable
compounds
2.In some cases, the end products may be more persistent
or toxic than the parent compound.
3. Research is needed to develop bioremediation
technologies for different sites.
4.Takes longer time than other treatment,
5. It requires pretreatment such as excavation, washing or
physical extraction before being placed in a bioreactor.