ABSTRACT

Laboratory studies and full scale field projects have shown the effectiveness of a newly emerging bioremediation technology, "Probiological Remediation Technology" (PRT). Laboratory feasibility studies and full scale remediation projects throughout the United States have proven the effectiveness of PRT. Many aspects of the probiological process are still unknown to scientists, but recent studies are helping to explain the complex nature of this emerging bioremediation technology. PRT utilizes complex organic materials to "detoxify" an impacted environment. When specific liquified organic acids and natural chelates are added to an impacted environment, limiting biological conditions and contaminants are altered in a fashion that will allow the biodegradation of a deleterious contaminant. The exact mechanism for the degradation of the contaminant is not fully known, but recent research has suggested that several pathways may be involved.

Several laboratory studies and full scale field projects have shown remarkable results. Many of the processes involved in probiological remediation technology are fairly common within the bioremediation scientific arena, but the use of specific organic materials is not. A collection of laboratory feasibility studies and full scale field projects will help explain this promising new technology. PRT is proving to be quite useful within the oil and gas industry for restoring sites that are contaminated with production wastes which often seem immune to biological degradation. Lethal microbial environmental conditions are altered, and microorganisms, whether they be indigenous or not, are able to perform their natural function as petroleum "degraders" when PRT is used as a remediation tool.

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