Experimental investigation of bio-removal of toxic organic pollutants from highly saline solutions in a triphasic system

Ruey Shin Juang*, Kuo Jui Tseng

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

A combined solvent extraction and biphasic biodegradation process was proposed to remove organic pollutants from highly saline solutions, where the organic solvent is biocompatible and the organic-aqueous interface remains quasi-quiescent during the process. Phenol and Pseudomonas putida BCRC 14365 were selected as the model organic compound and biomass, respectively. The effects of added NaCl concentration (50-200. g/L) and pH (1.0-9.0) in synthetic solutions on phenol removal and cell growth were studied at 30°C. The initial cell concentration was fixed at 0.025. g/L. Within the examined range, the adjustment of solution pH to 3.0 resulted in the best removal performance of 1100. mg/L phenol from such saline solutions (an apparent removal rate of about 20. mg/(L. h)) when using kerosene as the organic solvent. The overall process appeared to be favored when the salt concentration in saline solution was in the range of 100-150. g/L. The application potentials of such a triphasic process for the removal of toxic organics (phenol) from highly saline and acidic wastewaters were finally demonstrated in fed-batch mode.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)706-712
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Hazardous Materials
Volume178
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - 06 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biphasic biodegradation
  • Organic pollutants
  • Phenol
  • Saline solutions
  • Solvent extraction
  • Triphasic system

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