Patent ID: 7416882

Claim:
A method of biotreating a solid material to remove an undesired compound using a nonstirred surface bioreactor, said method comprising the steps of: a. coating the surface of a plurality of coarse substrates having a particle size of greater than about 0.3 cm with a solid material to be biotreated and thereby forming a plurality of coated coarse substrates, said solid material to be biotreated having a particle size of less than about 250 μm and containing an undesired compound; b. forming a nonstirred surface reactor by stacking said plurality of coated coarse substrates into a heap or placing said plurality of coated coarse substrates into a tank, said reactor having a void volume greater than or equal to about 25% and a surface area of greater than or equal 100 square meters per cubic meter of reactor space; c. inoculating said reactor with a microorganism capable of degrading the undesired compound in said solid material to thereby form a nonstirred surface bioreactor; and d. biotreating said solid material in said bioreactor until said undesired compound in said solid material is degraded to a desired concentration.