Effects of Groundwater Geochemical Constituents on Degradation of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene Coupled to Microbial Dissimilatory Fe(III) Reduction

TL;DRAbstract

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) are a group of monoaromatic petroleum-derived pollutants. Dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria are able to obtain energy for growth and function by coupling the oxidation of organic compounds and the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) in a subsurface environment. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effects of groundwater geochemical compositions on the degradation of BTEX coupled to microbial dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction. Results indicated that, the BTEX degradation coupled to microbial dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction could be described as pseudo-first-order kinetics, the order of BTEX degradation rate exhibited xylene>ethylbenzene>toluene>benzene. Cations and anions underwent inhibition-dominated reactions (carbonate, calcium, and magnesium) or enhancement-dominated reactions (bicarbonate and sulfate) on degradation of BTEX: (1) lower concentrations of carbonate, calcium, and magnesium enhanced the BTEX degradation, whereas hi

Chat with Paper

AI Agents for this Paper