Development of a fully-suspended, multi-stage bioreactor system for Trichloroethylene degradation based on soluble monooxygenase cometabolism.

A dual-stage suspended-growth bioreactor, utilizing methanotrophs for TCE co-oxidation, was designed, constructed, and demonstrated. The bioreactor was designed to incorporate previous batch and bioreactor knowledge of the physiological and kinetic requirements to maximize SMMO expression and TCE degradation by the utilized methanotroph, Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. The system was designed to minimize abiotic TCE losses through adsorption and stripping and to maximize the growth of the methanotroph and the production of SMMO. The system provides adequate monitoring capabilities for eventual modeling and optimization. Abiotic experiments have demonstrated a closed material balance on TCE and biological data has been acquired for continuously fed TCE concentrations ranging between 0.2 mg/L and 3 mg/L with removal efficiencies ranging between 100% and 82%, respectively.