Regenesis Gets Patent for Microemulsion Bioremediation Product
Regenesis was recently granted U.S. Patent 7,667,062 for 3-D Microemulsion (3DMe®), a groundwater remediation technology specifically designed to penetrate and treat aquifer systems unlike any other anaerobic bioremediation material on the market today.
The chemistry behind the product provides wide-area subsurface distribution characteristics coupled with sustained in-situ biological degradation of chlorinated contaminants. In addition, patented 3DMe is a completely new molecule with a novel structure that incorporates three separate and highly efficient electron donors — free lactic acid, controlled-release lactic acid, and long-release fatty acids — that promote biodegradation in the subsurface for up to three to five years on a single application. Enhanced anaerobic bioremediation using the product adds hydrogen (an electron donor) to groundwater in order to increase the number and activity of anaerobic microbes that naturally biodegrade many contaminants to ethane, ethene and other innocuous endproducts.
Introduced to the market in 2008, 3DMe has been applied successfully on nearly 300 sites worldwide. Delivered as a concentrate, it is mixed with water to form a dilute, easily pumped microemulsion with a high hydrophilic/lipophilic balance that allows the material to move rapidly through a contaminant plume. It is typically placed into the subsurface by direct-push injection or via permanent wells. Once emplaced, the suspension moves out into aquifer pore spaces via a unique and highly efficient micellar transport mechanism, eventually coating virtually all available surfaces. This attribute offers increased spacing between injection points, leading to increased efficiency in the form of fewer injection points and less time spent in the field.
3DMe’s combination of wide-area dispersion and long-term electron donor supply makes it efficient and cost-effective for the treatment of a long list of chlorinated contaminants, including perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene, dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, trichloroethane, chlorofluorocarbons, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and methylene chloride, and many types of pesticides, explosives and dyes. The product has been used to treat most of these contaminant types at a range of project sites such as manufacturing facilities, dry cleaners, military bases, industrial complexes, brownfield redevelopments and metal plating operations.
More recently, the product has been the focus of a 20-site review seeking to ensure that its application will have little or no detrimental effect on an aquifer’s groundwater pH. The study can be accessed at www.regenesis.com.