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US 5,888,396 AGranted
Bioremediation of pollutants with butane-utilizing bacteria
OwnerFelix Anthony Perrielloinventor
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OwnerFelix Anthony Perrielloinventor
Estimating the term…
Butane-utilizing bacteria are used to degrade hydrocarbon pollutants such as trichloroethene (TCE). In-situ or ex-situ techniques may be used to reduce or eliminate hydrocarbon pollutants from liquid, gas and solid sources. In a preferred embodiment, TCE concentrations in various aqueous environments are reduced by contacting a contaminated water source with butane-utilizing bacteria in the presence of oxygen to degrade the TCE by cometabolism or direct metabolism. Suitable butane-utilizing bacteria include Pseudomonas, Variovorax, Nocardia, Chryseobacterium, Comamonas, Acidovorax, Rhodococcus, Aureobacterium, Micrococcus, Aeromonas, Stenotrophomonas, Sphingobacterium, Shewanella, Phyllobacterium, Clavibacter, Alcaligenes, Gordona, Corynebacterium and Cytophaga. The butane-utilizing bacteria have relatively low TCE toxicity in comparison with conventional methane-utilizing bacteria, and demonstrate an improved ability to degrade TCE.
A method of degrading chlorinated aliphatic, chlorinated aromatic or non-chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants, the method comprising treating the hydrocarbon pollutant with butane-utilizing bacteria in the presence of oxygen for a treatment time sufficient for the butane-utilizing bacteria to degrade the hydrocarbon pollutant, and providing a butane food source to the butane-utilizing bacteria during at least a portion of the treatment time.
A method of decontaminating water comprising:
A method of treating a fluid contaminated with trichloroethene, the method comprising contacting contaminated fluid having an initial trichloroethene concentration of greater than about 6 mg/liter with butane-utilizing bacteria in the presence of oxygen for a treatment time sufficient for the butane-utilizing bacteria to degrade the trichloroethene, and providing a butane food source to the butane-utilizing bacteria during at least a portion of the treatment time, to produce decontaminated fluid having a substantially lower concentration of the trichloroethene than the contaminated fluid.
A method of decontaminating water comprising:
A method of degrading at least one hydrocarbon pollutant selected from the group consisting of methylene chloride, 1,1-dichloroethane, chloroform, 1,2-dichloropropane, dibromochloromethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 2-chloroethylvinyl ether, tetrachloroethene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, bromodichloromethane, trans-1,3-dichloropropene, cis-1,3-dichloropropene, bromoform, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, chloromethane, bromomethane, vinyl chloride, chloroethane, 1,1-dichloroethene, trans-1,2-dichloroethene, trichloroethene, dichlorobenzenes, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, dibromomethane, 1,4-dichlorobutane, 1,2,3-trichloropropane, bromochloromethane, 2,2-dichloropropane, 1,2-dibromoethane, 1,3-dichloropropane, bromobenzene, chlorotoluenes, trichlorobenzenes, trimethylbenzenes, trans-1,4-dichloro-2-butene and butylbenzenes, the method comprising treating the hydrocarbon pollutant with butane-utilizing bacteria in the presence of oxygen for a treatment time sufficient for the butane-utilizing bacteria to degrade the hydrocarbon pollutant, and providing a butane food source to the butane-utilizing bacteria during at least a portion of the treatment time.
A method of decontaminating water comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.