ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the bench- and pilot-scale evaluation of surfactant-enhanced microbial degradation of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds in coal-coking waste. The major product of coal carbonization was coke as well as tar, light oil, ammonia liquor, and coke-oven gas. Coke waste was collected from a nonoperating coke manufacturing site in the Midwest. In order to determine which surfactants are most likely to promote bioremediation of PAH from coke waste, batch equilibrium tests were performed on coke waste solids to assess surfactant solubilization of PAH. The challenge in applying surfactants was to use a concentration high enough to change surface chemistry to make PAH bioavailable, but low enough to avoid creating micelles, which can inhibit the biological degradation of PAH. Surfactants are a general class of chemicals whose molecular structures generally consist of a hydrophobic group, which has little affinity for the aqueous phase, and a hydrophilic group, which is readily soluble in the aqueous phase.
