Evaluation of drum bioreactor performance used for decontamination of soil polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

A laboratory-scale drum bioreactor system was used to study engineering aspects of soil bioremediation. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were chosen as contaminants in soil. In the operation of the reactor, different mixing strategies were applied according to the size of soil without separate washing of sand. The effect of the water content of the soil mixture on solid mixing time and phenanthrene degradation rate was of particular interest. At 20% water content, which was below the saturation level, the mixing efficiency of soil and the degradation rate of phenanthrene was lower than those at 30% or 40% water content. Optimal water content was variable according to the soil texture. The drum bioreactor was operated under optimal water content and PAH concentration (fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene) and microbial numbers were measured in each soil phase (sediment and suspension). Over 95% of PAHs with three or four rings (fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene) were degraded at 270 mg kg-1 soil within 20 days. The degradation rate of PAHs in the suspension phase was higher than that in sediment phase.