Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Fundamentals and Applications of Entrapped
Cell Bioaugmentation for Contaminant Removal
Sumana Siripattanakul and Eakalak Khan
Abstract
Entrapped cell bioaugmentation is an addition of gel or rubber matrices
embedded with microorganisms to increase biological activities. The technology is
an integration of cell entrapment and cell bioaugmentation techniques. In the last
decade, this technology has been frequently studied for its applications in the envi-
ronmental field for removing collective and specific contaminants. The technology
not only provides sufficient contaminant-degrading cultures but also prevents them
from environmental stresses and being transported out of the target systems. This
paper provides a review on the uses of entrapped cell bioaugmentation for contami-
nant removal including background of the technology, principles of cell entrapment
techniques, types and preparation procedures of selected cell entrapment matrices,
and studies on the applications of the technology for wastewater treatment and site
remediation. Future perspectives of the technology are also discussed.
Keywords
Bioaugmentation
·
Biodegradation
·
Bioremediation
·
Cell
entrapment
·
Wastewater treatment
7.1 Introduction
Engineered and natural biological processes sometimes do not perform well or
take long time in removing contaminants such as nutrients, heavy metals, pheno-
lic compounds, and chlorinated compounds because they have inappropriate types
and/or insufficient numbers of contaminant-degrading cultures [1-7]. A technique
called cell bioaugmentation, was developed to overcome these problems [1-9]. Cell
bioaugmentation is the addition of adequate numbers of effective contaminant-
degrading microbial strain(s) to remove contaminants. The cell bioaugmentation
