PureAg Products / EcoSens Bioreactor 

The Surfactant System 

The principal technology is a unique blend of non-toxic surfactants, emulsifiers and nutrients which break down pollutants (including hydrocarbons) into smaller units, emulsify them, and then coat them in a nutrient. The resulting stable emulsion is highly attractive to a wide range of existing natural bacteria. The emulsion is rapidly consumed, easily digested and the resulting fluid is rendered free of pollutants. The hydrocarbons are broken down into non-toxic end products (carbon dioxide, water and biomass). The rate of the treatment process is enhanced by the addition of oxygen or air, which speeds the multiplication of bacteria. Special strains of pollutant consuming bacteria further speed the consumption of the emulsified pollutants.

Where immediate, on-line removal of pollutants is required prior to the discharge of effluent to existing treatment plants or receiving bodies of water, the process is implemented in one or more aerating and polishing vessels (bioreactors) after the waste stream has been mixed with the BioSurf. Company designed bioreactors have been installed at more than 90 locations in Germany. While bioreactors can be built for essentially any flow rate, those presently installed commercially range from 45 to 4,755,060 gallons/hour.

Where water is presently treated in sewage lagoons or in an existing sewage treatment plant, it is only necessary to mix the waste stream and the BioSurf before release to the aeration and/or digesting ponds or the treatment plant where the naturally occurring bacteria will consume the emulsified pollutants (hydrocarbons) at the same time they are consuming other organic pollutants.  The rate at which the treated hydrocarbons are digested is far greater than the rate of digestion without emulsification by the BioSurf.

The present formulation of the BioSurf can be applied to essentially any hydrocarbon-based pollutants, (including petroleum-based products e.g. gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, natural and synthetic industrial cutting oils etc.), animal fats, grease, blood, PCB’s, dioxins', coal tar, creosote, and phenols.  Emulsification occurs in water or in soil/ water mixtures regardless of the concentration of the pollutant, provided that intimate contact (mixing) of the BioSurf and the pollutant occurs.  The emulsion is stable for several years in the absence of bacteria.