A study of external mass transfer effect on biodegradation of phenol using low-density polyethylene immobilizedBacillus flexusGS1 IIT (BHU) in a packed bed bioreactor

The impact of external mass transport on the biodegradation rate of phenol in a packed bed bioreactor (PBBR) was studied. A potential bacterial species,Bacillus flexusGS1 IIT (BHU), was isolated from the petroleum-contaminated soil. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) immobilized with theB. flexusGS1 IIT (BHU) was used as packing material in the PBBR. The PBBR was operated by varying the inlet feed flow rate from 4 to 10 mL/min, and the corresponding degradation rate coefficients were found to be in the range of 0.119-0.157 L/g h. In addition, the highest removal rate of phenol was obtained to be 1.305 mg/g h at an inlet feed rate of 10 mL/min. The external mass transfer was studied using the modelJD=K NRe(n-1). A new empirical correlationJD=1.625NRe-0.3for the biodegradation of phenol in the PBBR was developed after the evaluation at various values ofKandn.

Automated summary

The study investigated the impact of external mass transport on the biodegradation rate of phenol in a packed bed bioreactor, and developed a new empirical correlation for phenol biodegradation in the PBBR. Bacillus flexus GS1 IIT (BHU) was identified as a potential bacterial species for phenol degradation in the PBBR.