DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED SOIL SLURRY REACTOR SYSTEM FOR BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF SOILS CONTAINING TNT AND RDX

The ordnance compounds 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) are major soil contaminants in locations of interest to the United States Navy. This project will develop a system based on a soil slurry reactor that will use microorganisms to effect complete remediation of such contaminated soils. McNamee, Porter, and Seely has teamed up with Dr. Robert L. Irvine of SBR Technologies, forming a group of engineers and scientists with specific experience in bioreactor development and treatment of soil contaminated by nitro compounds. In this study, recent literature and laboratory results will be updated to determine the most promising micoorganisms and reactor configurations for complete degredation of these compounds. The scope also includes a workshop at which leading researchers on biological reactors and ordnance-degrading microorganisms will participate in data evaluation and development of research plans. This information will be employed in desktop studies to design experiments which will be used in Phase II to complete the development of a pilot-scale slurry treatment system. The experiment design will include detailed examination of reactor systems previously shown to be effective in biologically treating nitro compounds, including anaerobic soil slurry sequencing batch reactors and aerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactors.