Bioremediation in Antarctica

Features, Research — By Jennifer Thomas on August 18, 2011 12:39 pm

Researchers from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering are working to preserve Antarctica by cleaning up the contamination, particularly fuel spills and waste disposal sites of past expeditions. Bases in Antarctica are powered by diesel and occasionally leaks and spills occur, sometimes as a result of normal operations and others caused by incidents due to stress caused by freezing and thawing of pipes delivering fuel.

Working in an environment where winter temperatures can drop to lower than minus eighty degrees Celsius, staff and postgraduate students are helping to protect fragile ecosystems on land and in surrounding bays and seas. They are devising ways to deal with a variety of waste problems. Their challenge is to find ways to clean up waste sites that will work effectively in Antarctica’s demanding conditions.

Dr Kathryn Mumford is a Research Fellow with the Particulate Fluids Processing Centre (PFPC) at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Kathryn designs in situ remediation systems that biodegrade fuel contaminants and bind heavy metals. In particular her work focuses on contaminants located in cold regions such as Antarctica and the Arctic.

Bioremediation uses nutrients, microorganisms, oxygen or other mechanical means to accelerate the break-down of contaminants. From oil spills to soil contamination, bioremediation is seen as a useful biological method in trying to return environments to their original conditions. Using biological solutions such as remediation is a particular challenge in harsh environmental conditions, such as those found in Antarctica. New microorganisms cannot be introduced into this environment to stimulate bioremediation and researchers have to work to stimulate organisms that exist in the area. In addition, a number of other challenges come into play in the design of bioremediation system in cold regions.

“We have problems with water fluxes, because of the large amount of snow melt that we have at the beginning of summer. We also have problems with freeze and thawing, so over the summer you get wide ranges in temperature which results in freezing and thawing of our barrier material. Also at low temperatures reaction rates or different processes are a lot slower, so we have to design our system according to that,” Dr Mumford says.

Despite these challenges, the clean up operations of the Particulate Fluids Processing Centre have yielded positive results over the last decade.

Tags: chemical and biomolecular engineering, MSE, research