Date of Award
8-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
Committee Member
Dr. David L. Freedman, Committee Chair
Committee Member
Dr. Kevin T. Finneran
Committee Member
Dr. David A. Ladner
Abstract
Bacteria that degrade natural organic matter in groundwater contain oxygenases that can co-oxidize trichloroethene (TCE). This degradation pathway is promising for large dilute plumes, but its evaluation is limited because the density of the bacteria with oxygenase enzymes has not been correlated to field scale rates of degradation. A 14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate coefficients for the aerobic co-oxidation of TCE. The assay involved the development of a first-order model that determined rate coefficients based on product accumulation and accounting for volumetric changes in the serum bottles due to sampling and subsequent changes to the distribution of TCE between the aqueous and gaseous phases. Of the 19 wells evaluated at five sites, eight wells at three sites had 14C product accumulation rates that exceeded the accumulation rate in filter-sterilized groundwater controls. First-order rate coefficients ranged from 2.65 to 0.0066 yr-1, which is equivalent to half-lives of 0.26 to 105 yr. A few of the wells in which co-oxidation occurred had volatile organic contaminants in addition to TCE; their presence may have induced the oxygenases needed for TCE co-oxidation. 14CO2 represented ~37-97% of the 14C products that accumulated; the balance of the products was soluble and non-volatile.
Recommended Citation
Mills, James C. IV, "Quantification of TCE Co-oxidation in Groundwater using a C-14 Assay" (2017). All Theses. 2702.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2702