Semester of Graduation

Spring 2026

Degree

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE)

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The goals of the research presented in this thesis were to assess the biodegradability of 2- (2-aminoethoxy)ethanol (AEE) also known as Diglycolamine®, DGA, and ADEG and to tentatively identify the organisms that are responsible for its biodegradation. A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor inoculated with activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant was employed to test AEE’s biodegradability. Consistent aerobic biotransformation of AEE (initial concentration of 500 mg/L) was observed over multiple cycles and was well described by zero-order reaction kinetics. Ammonia was the dominant nitrogencontaining product observed to accumulate. Eleven strains of bacteria were isolated from the bioreactor and shown to biotransform AEE. Of these, three of the strains were tested for the ability to remove chemical oxygen demand (COD) and were shown to biodegrade over 80% of the COD when AEE was provided. Because no bacterial taxa have previously been identified as able to biotransform AEE, subsequent 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on these isolated strains to attain partial 16S rRNA gene sequences which were used for tentative taxonomic identification. The closest related type strains to the isolates obtained in this study all belonged to the same genus.

Date

3-23-2026

Committee Chair

Moe, William M.

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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Available for download on Monday, March 21, 2033

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