Bioremediation of marine sediments contaminated by hydrocarbons: experimental analysis and kinetic modeling

Abstract

This work deals with bioremediation experiments on harbor sediments contaminated by aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), investigating the effects of a continuous supply of inorganic nutrients and sand amendments on the kinetics of microbial growth and hydrocarbon degradation. Inorganic nutrients stimulated microbial growth and enhanced the biodegradation of low and high molecular weight hydrocarbons, whereas sand amendment increased only the removal of high molecular weight compounds. The simultaneous addition of inorganic nutrients and sand provided the highest biodegradation (>70% for aliphatic hydrocarbons and 40% for PAHs). A semi-empirical kinetic model was successfully fitted to experimental temporal changes of hydrocarbon residual concentrations and microbial abundances. The estimated values for parameters allowed to calculate a doubling time of 2.9 d and a yield coefficient biomass/hydrocarbons 0.39 g C biomass g-1C hydrocarbons, for the treatment with the highest hydrocarbon biodegradation yield. A comparison between the organic carbon demand and temporal profiles of hydrocarbons residual concentration allowed also to calculate the relative contribution of contaminants to carbon supply, in the range 5-32%. This suggests that C availability in the sediments, influencing prokaryotic metabolism, may have cascade effects on biodegradation rates of hydrocarbons. Even if these findings do not represent a general rule and site-specific studies are needed, the approach used here can be a relevant support tool when designing bioremediation strategies on site.