SBIR Phase I: In Situ Remediation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Using Bioaugmentation

汽油添加剂甲基叔丁基醚（MTBE）是美国地下水中第二大最普遍的污染物，目前还没有经济的技术将其从供水中去除。 Envirogen的科学家最近分离出一种新的细菌（ENV 735），它利用MTBE作为生长基质。 这只是第二次报道能够在MTBE上生长的纯培养物。 本第一阶段提案的目的是评估菌株ENV 735在MTBE原位生物修复中的潜在应用。 将使用含水层微生态系统来测量在不同微生物和地球化学条件下ENV 735降解MTBE的动力学。 此外，将研究ENV 735降解MTBE的途径，并将进行实验以确定与ENV 735相同类别的其他细菌是否具有降解MTBE的代谢能力。 本研究的数据将用于评估使用ENV 735和类似微生物原位修复污染含水层中的MTBE的可行性。修复技术的商业潜力是巨大的，它可以快速，有效和经济有效地破坏地下水中的MTBE。 这种可能性来自以下因素：（1）MTBE是美国第二大最普遍的地下水污染物（例如，最近发现丹佛市区的威尔斯有79%的井被污染）;（2）传统技术在从地下水中去除这种污染物方面是无效的，和（3）甲基叔丁基醚已被证明会导致实验室动物的癌症，因此监管关注度很高。 基于这些因素，安格罗根分析师预计，MTBE将成为未来十年最活跃的补救市场之一。

The gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is the second most prevalent contaminant in groundwater in the United States, and there are currently no economical technologies for its removal from the water supply. Envirogen scientists have recently isolated a novel bacterium (ENV 735) that utilizes MTBE as a growth substrate. This is only the second report of a pure culture that is capable of growing on MTBE. The objective of this Phase I Proposal is to evaluate the potential application of strain ENV 735 for in situ bioremediation of MTBE. Aquifer microcosms will be used to measure the kinetics of MTBE degradation by ENV 735 under different microbiological and geochemical conditions. In addition, the pathway of MTBE degradation by ENV 735 will be studied, and experiments will be conducted to determine whether the metabolic capacity to degrade MTBE is shared among other bacteria of the same class as ENV 735. The data from this study will be used to assess the feasibility of using ENV 735 and similar microorganisms for in situ remediation of MTBE in contaminated aquifers.The commercial potential for a remediation technology that allows rapid, efficient, and cost effective destruction of MTBE in groundwater is tremendous. This potential derives from the following factors: (1) MTBE is the second most prevalent groundwater contaminant in the United States (e.g., 79 % of wells in urban Denver were recently found to be contaminated); (2) traditional technologies are ineffective at removing this contaminant from groundwater, and (3) MTBE has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals, thus regulatory concern is high. Based on these factors, ENVIROGEN analysts expect MTBE to be one of the most active remediation markets over the next decade.