A BENCH-SCALE STUDY ON BIODEGRADATION AND VOLATILIZATION OF ETHYLBENZOATE IN AQUIFERS

Experiments were conducted to investigate the fate of ethylbenzoate an d soil microorganisms in shallow aquifers. Biodegradation and volatili zation have been identified as the major mechanisms in attenuating eth ylbenzoate in contaminated soils. The rate of volatilization was exper imentally found to be limited by gas-phase diffusion. The parameters o f an available model, i.e., the maximum specific growth rate and the s aturation constant, have been estimated by fitting the model to the ex perimental data obtained with ethylbenzoate as the carbon source; the former was 0.49 h(-1), and the latter was 62 mg L(-1). Various facets of biodegradation, including the effects of mass-transfer resistance a nd initial distribution of microorganisms, have been numerically analy zed on the basis of the model.