Investigation of Reductive Dechlorination Supported by Nature Organic Carbon

Reductive dechlorination supported by natural organic carbon was investigated. Extraction procedures were used to investigate the mass of indigenous organic carbon in aquifer sediment. Experiments were conducted to determine if the extracted carbon could support reductive dechlorination of chloroethenes. The results of single extraction experiments showed that a wide range of organic carbon was removed in aqueous solution, depending on the extracting solution. Carbon extracted from aquifer sediment was shown to biodegrade in short-term aerobic and anaerobic bioassay tests. Anaerobic bioassay experiments demonstrated that hydrogen gas was produced when extracted organic carbon was added to a mixed culture. It was suggested that the five-step extraction process might be useful in further investigation to quantify the reservoir of indigenous biodegradable organic carbon (BOC) for the purpose of evaluating long-term sustainability of reductive dechlorination.