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. 1992 Jun;58(6):1996–2000. doi: 10.1128/aem.58.6.1996-2000.1992

Complete biological reductive transformation of tetrachloroethene to ethane.

W P de Bruin 1, M J Kotterman 1, M A Posthumus 1, G Schraa 1, A J Zehnder 1
PMCID: PMC195716  PMID: 1622277

Abstract

Reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethene (perchloroethylene; PCE) was observed at 20 degrees C in a fixed-bed column, filled with a mixture (3:1) of anaerobic sediment from the Rhine river and anaerobic granular sludge. In the presence of lactate (1 mM) as an electron donor, 9 microM PCE was dechlorinated to ethene. Ethene was further reduced to ethane. Mass balances demonstrated an almost complete conversion (95 to 98%), with no chlorinated compounds remaining (less than 0.5 micrograms/liter). When the temperature was lowered to 10 degrees C, an adaptation of 2 weeks was necessary to obtain the same performance as at 20 degrees C. Dechlorination by column material to ethene, followed by a slow ethane production, could also be achieved in batch cultures. Ethane was not formed in the presence of bromoethanesulfonic acid, an inhibitor of methanogenesis. The high dechlorination rate (3.7 mumol.l-1.h-1), even at low temperatures and considerable PCE concentrations, together with the absence of chlorinated end products, makes reductive dechlorination an attractive method for removal of PCE in bioremediation processes.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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