SMERS - sediment microbial electrochemial remediation systems. MERS

The presence of petroleum hydrocarbons (PH) contamination in the marine ecosystem has long been of serious concern for environmental and public health. Of these PH contaminants, diesel range hydrocarbons (DRH) have been documented as one of the most abundant pollutants; they can be biodegradable under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. However, the rate of microbial utilization of these DRH compounds is very slow especially in anaerobic environments (marine sediments and groundwater system) where the availability of relevant electron acceptors is limited. Microbial electrochemical remediation systems (MERS) have recently emerged as a green technology for the effective remediation of PH contaminants coupled with simultaneous energy recovery