An extractive membrane biofilm reactor as alternative technology for the treatment of methyl tert‐butyl ether contaminated water

Abstract

Among the strategies developed for contaminated groundwater bioremediation, those based on the use of bacteria adhering to inert supports and establishing biofilms have gained great importance in this field. Extractive membrane biofilm reactor (EMBFR) technology offers productive solutions for the removal of volatile and semi-volatile compounds. EMBFR technology is based on the use of extractive semipermeable membranes through which contaminants migrate to the biological compartment in which microorganisms with pollutant biotransformation and/or mineralization capacities can grow, forming an active biofilm on the membrane surface. The objective of this study was to assess the use of three bacterial strains (Paenibacillus sp. SH7 CECT 8558, Agrobacterium sp. MS2 CECT 8557, and Rhodococcus ruber EE6 CECT 8612), as inoculum in a lab-scale EMBFR running for 28 days under aerobic conditions to eliminate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) from water samples. Three different hydraulic retention times (1, 6, and 12 h) were employed. MTBE degradation values were determined daily by a gas GC-MS technique, as well as suspended bacterial growth. The biofilm established by the bacterial strains on the semipermeable membrane was detected by Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) at the end of each experiment. The acute toxicity of the treated effluents and biomedium was determined by Microtox assay (EC ).The results achieved from the MTBE degradation, biofilm formation, and toxicity analysis indicated that bacterial strains MS2 and EE6 were the best options as selective inoculum, although further research is needed, particularly with regard to their possible use as a mixed culture. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:1238-1245, 2016.

Isolation and identification of metallotolerant bacteria with a potential biotechnological application

“…Similarly, Staphylococcus epidermidis strain that producing brown pigment, as observed in the present work, exhibit a greater capacity to form biofilms, as reported by Yao et al 39 . Therefore, the isolation of bacteria with this capability enables their immobilization, a process that was subsequently analyzed and confirmed in the present work by SEM 40 , 41 .…”

Effects of internal concentration polarization and membrane roughness on phenol removal in extractive membrane bioreactor

“…The growing interest in the EMBR for recalcitrant or difficult organic wastewater treatment calls for fundamental and systematic investigations that can lead to a better understanding of the process and further advance this technology [8,9]. Efforts have been made to demonstrate its success with the treatment of a diverse range of compounds, including hydrophobic and hydrophilic chemicals, volatile and less volatile organics, and metal-containing wastewaters in hostile conditions [10][11][12][13].…”

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“…En los últimos años, el avance en las tecnologías analíticas ha puesto de manifiesto la presencia en aguas superficiales y subterráneas de sustancias que no están reguladas, y cuyo efecto a largo plazo se desconoce, denominadas contaminantes emergentes (fármacos, microplásticos, compuestos fenólicos, compuestos fluorados, y otros). En este contexto, el grupo se ha especializado en el diseño y desarrollo de tecnologías para el tratamiento biológico de aguas subterráneas contaminadas con algunas de estas sustancias (Guisado et al, 2016) así como en la degradación fúngica de otros contaminantes emergentes (Mtbaá et al, 2018). El uso de técnicas moleculares y la irrupción de las nuevas técnicas de secuenciación masiva, nos ha proporcionado herramientas de gran aplicabilidad para evaluar el impacto producido por la presencia de los xenobióticos sobre las comunidades microbianas (arqueas, bacterias, hongos y virus) presentes en suelos, fangos activos de plantas de tratamiento de agua residual (Gallardo-Altamirano et al, 2018), y procesos de compostaje de lodos de depuradora (Robledo-Mahón et al, 2018).…”