Microbial degradation of hazardous wastes to non-toxic end-products Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The generation of large quantities of toxic wastes in the form of phenolic compounds, halogenated hydrocarbons, and volatile organic chemicals has resulted in requirements for new and environmentally safe methods for elimination. One method used to reduce the volume of toxic waste chemicals is the construction of microbial reaction systems that are capable of degrading toxic chemicals and discharging non-toxic or less toxic products. The applicability of biological fermentation processes for the degradation of phenol, pentachlorophenol, and toluene to non-toxic end-products has been investigated for its potential use as a large-scale unit process. Acclimatization of the batch reactors has been achieved for phenol concentrations ranging from 50 mg/l to 300 mg/l, 1 mg/l pentachlorophenol, and a complex chemical mixture consisting of: 50 mg/l phenol, 1 mg/l pentachlorophenol, and 390 mg/l glucose. Decay rates for a reactor containing 350 mg/l phenol and 150 mg/l glucose have been established and compared to literature values for batch reactors containing 350 mg/l phenol. Future work includes determining decay rates for pentachlorophenol for a concentration of 5 mg/l, identification of the biodegradation end-products, and determination of a kinetic model for each toxicant. 1989, All rights reserved.

published proceedings

  • Journal of Hazardous Materials

altmetric score

  • 7

author list (cited authors)

  • McCreary, E., Akgerman, A., Autenrieth, R., & Bonner, J.

citation count

  • 0

complete list of authors

  • McCreary, Emily||Akgerman, Aydin||Autenrieth, RobinL||Bonner, JamesS

publication date

  • January 1989