The Removal of Low Levels of Phenol by Activated Carbon in the Presence of Biological Activity

摘要

Bioregeneration of activated carbon was shown to occur in bench-scale carbon columns through use of parallel bacterially seeded and non-seeded, non-bioactive columns. Phenol degrading organisms were taken from an enrichment using phenol as sole carbon source. Mass balance calculations on phenol and dissolved oxygen were used to estimate amounts of pre-adsorbed phenol being biodegraded under different conditions, with a check made on this amount through the use of adsorption isotherm analysis. The amount of bioregeneration was found to be related to the influent dissolved oxygen concentration. Transient organic load experiments showed that the presence of a bacterial population could affect the effluent concentrations resulting from such transient loadings primarily through two mechanisms: increased carbon capacity due to bioregeneration, and reduction of solution concentration due to biodegradation of phenol in the bulk solution. End product analysis was performed via carbon extraction, gas chromatography, and mass spectroscopy. Total organic carbon analysis of column effluents was also performed.