Anaerobic biodegradation of hydrocarbons

✍ Scribed by Christof Holliger; Alexander JB Zehnder

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 605 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0958-1669
• DOI: 10.1016/s0958-1669(96)80039-5

✦ Synopsis

Anaerobic biodegradation of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons is a promising alternative to aerobic biodegradation treatments in bioremediation processes. It is now proven that, besides toluene, benzene and ethylbenzene can be oxidized under anaerobic redox conditions. Anaerobic bacteria have also been shown capable of utilizing substrates not only in the pure form, but also in complex hydrocarbon mixtures, such as crude oil. In addition, crucial steps in anaerobic treatment processes have been studied in vitro to better understand the enzymes involved in monoaromatic hydrocarbon degradation. Knowledge remains incomplete, however, about the anaerobic degradation of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.