Effectiveness and kinetics of hydrogen peroxide and nitrate-enhanced biodegradation of hydrocarbons

Techniques are rapidly developing for insitu biodegradation processes of contaminations in lower water bearing formations. It is well known that underground biodegradation is limited by the lack of electron acceptors and nutrients. Hydrogen peroxide and nitrate are the most commonly applied electron acceptors to enhance in situ bioremediation of contaminated soils. This paper has two purposes. The first is to compare the effects and rates of degradation processes with hydrogen peroxide and nitrates as electron acceptors despite of differences in type of metabolism. The second is to develop a bioreactor system that allows consideration of the effects of mass transportation and evaluation of the overall kinetics for biodegradation processes in soils