Effect of Nonionic Surfactant on the Removal of TCE and PCE

Various surfactants have been applied to the remediation of hydrophobic organic compounds in contaminated soils and groundwaters. A study on the effect of a surfactant on the degradation of TCE and PCE was carried out with phenol-oxidizing microorganisms in order to investigate any change in their degradations. The addition of the surfactant at 50 mg/L neither improved nor worsened significantly the degradation of TCE or PCE during short periods. Less TCE was removed in presence of surfactant for 29 hr, and it implied that the surfactant might decrease enzymatic activity. More phenol was quickly degraded in the absence of surfactant than in the presence of surfactant. The competition between phenol and surfactant has important implications for the operation of biological treatment technique. The pseudo first-order rate constant (k) of TCE was found to be 0.0089 L/mg VS-day.