Bioremediation of industrial wastewaters contaminated with hazardous compound

Bioremediation of Industrial Wastewaters Contaminated With Hazardous Compound Data · August 2015 CITATIONS 0 READS 56 2 authors: Vicky Dritsa National Technical University of Athens 28 P

Bioremediation of Industrial Wastewaters Contaminated With Hazardous Compound

Data · August 2015

CITATIONS

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READS

56

2 authors:

Vicky Dritsa

National Technical University of Athens

28 PUBLICATIONS 263 CITATIONS

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Fotis Rigas National Technical University of Athens

143 PUBLICATIONS 1,152 CITATIONS

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In: Bioremediation: … ISBN: 978-1-61122-730-7 Editors: Alexander C Mason ©2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc

Chapter 10

CONTAMINATED WITH HAZARDOUS COMPOUNDS

Vicky Dritsa and Fotis Rigas

National Technical University of Athens, School of Chemical Engineering, Athens, Greece

A BSTRACT

Intensive industrialization generates by-products or residues, which are usually hazardous (toxic and/or persistent) to the environment and to humans The most hazardous pollutants include heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and synthetic dyes For more than a century industrialized countries contaminate systematically soil, water and air with such materials Yet, it was only after the 1980s that remedial actions were undertaken and the laisser-faire approach was set aside With regard to soil and water contamination, the general term “site remediation” is usually used This term is not limited to the cleaning of contaminants in either a solid matrix (mainly soil) or in liquid media (groundwater or surface water), because in some cases there is no clean-up at all, and in fact the contaminants are contained or immobilized in place Therefore, the term “remediation” should be seen as having broader meaning than “cleanup”

Biological treatment technologies have played an important role in the degradation

of hazardous environmental pollutants Bioremediation is a diverse clean-up technology, cost-effective and environmentally friendly compared to the traditional commonly used physico-chemical techniques The term “soft technology” is sometimes used for biotechnology to distinguish from the most drastic and environmentally affecting physico-chemical techniques Bioremediation involves the use of various microbial organisms for eliminating environmental pollutants It may be a permanent solution and may even lead to complete mineralization of organic pollutants, leaving the ecosystem intact The most important factors for the success of this technology are the availability of suitable microbes in the contaminated medium, the type and concentration of pollutants and the environmental conditions

This chapter reviews the recent bioremediation research on a range of pollutants in wastewaters produced by industries such as alcohol distilleries, olive mills, and paper and pulp mills industries Treatment and reuse of effluents present significant challenges due

to the characteristics of the wastewater such as high chemical oxygen demand (COD), high content of persistent pollutants and dark colour Many species have been isolated and characterized as pollutant-degrading microorganisms Biodegradation and biosorption have been extensively studied using pure or mixed cultures of fungi and bacteria The evaluation of the proper microorganism(s) is normally the first step for a biological treatment of pollutants An extended review of the microorganisms, emphasized on bacteria and fungi that have been tested for the removal of the specific pollutants in the industrial wastewater is given in this chapter