Bio Degradation of Phenol: A Study in Sequence of Batch Reactors and Draft Tube Three Phase Fluidised Bed Bioreactor

摘要

Phenols in the form of hydroxy benzenes are the most prevalent pollutants in wastewaters of chemical industries. Biological degradation of phenol using mixed culture was investigated in batch reactors. The effect of the variables like pH, substrate concentration, agitation and inoculum size on degradation of phenol were studied and these parameters were optimized. The phenol degradation in a draft tube three phase fluidized bed bioreactor containing mixed culture immobilized in alginate beads was also investigated under different mode of operating conditions. A mutant strain of mixed culture was developed using UV light. The degradation of phenol with varying parameters was studied in a similar pattern as that of parent culture. The results obtained show that the complete degradation of phenol in batch reactor with parent culture and with mutant culture. The results obtained show that the percentage degradation of phenol in the draft tube fluidized bed bioreactor is found to be 60 to 7.0%. The UV mutant culture could degrade up to 80 - 90% even with concentrated substrates. Experimental data on the global gas hold up were fitted to verify the power law in respect of gas hold up. The power law fits the data well in establishing the global gas hold up in the reactor.