Obiettivo The project is to demonstrate a biological method using white-rot fungus for the clean-up of pesticide-contaminated soil near a former pesticide-manufacturing plant.In the wake of pesticide production, contaminated soils are left over. Incineration of these soils is usually the only means of removing the pollution, at enormous costs. A promising alternative to this is biological degradation of the contaminants in situ, at much less cost. The selected bioreactor design was that of an aerated trough that was inoculated with white rot fungus in a sawdust bed. The results of this large scale demonstration plant at an abandoned industrial site near Bologna were satisfactory, and control tests were carried out with aerated continuous mixers on the cubic metre scale. These tests showed the expected rapid digestion of the pesticides. The conclusion was that the fixed bed trough reactor design is not adequate for the process of biodegrading pesticides with the help of white rot fungus. However, the results of the project led to suggestions as to how to improve the reactor design so as to provide a rather inexpensive technology for the in situ clean up of pesticide contaminated soil.In the wake of pesticide production, such as DDT, contaminated soils are left over. Incineration of these soils is usually the only means of removing the pollution - at enormous costs. A promising alternative to this is biological degradation of the contaminants in situ, at much less costs. Within the ACE 89 programme, the EC Commission assisted a demonstration project at 30 % of the project costs, to be carried out by the Genova-based CASTALIA S.p.A. The selected bioreactor design was that of an aerated trough that was inoculated with whiteªrot fungus in a sawdust bed. The results of this large-scale demonstration plant at an abandoned industrial site near Bologna not being satisfactory, control tests were carried out with aerated continuous mixers on the cubic-meter scale. These tests showed the expected rapid digestion of the pesticides. The conclusion of this project is that the fixed-bed trough reactor design is not adequate for the process of biodegrading pesticides with the help of white-rot fungus. However, the results of the project led to suggestions as to how to improve the reactor design so as to provide a rather inexpensive technology for the in-situ clean-up of pesticide-contaminated soil. Programma(i) ENV-ACE 2 - Action (EEC) by the Community relating to the environment (ACE), 1987-1991 Argomento(i) Data not available Invito a presentare proposte Data not available Meccanismo di finanziamento DEM - Demonstration contracts Coordinatore CASTALIA S.P.A. Contributo UE Nessun dato Indirizzo 18,Largo S. Giuseppe 16121 Genova Italia Mostra sulla mappa Costo totale Nessun dato
