Continuous acetonitrile degradation in a packed-bed bioreactor

A 20-l packed-bed reactor filled with foamed glass beads was tested for the treatment of acetonitrile HPLC wastes. Aeration was provided by recirculating a portion of the reactor liquid phase through an aeration tank, where the dissolved oxygen concentration was kept at 6 mg/l. At a feeding rate of 0.77 g acetonitrile l(-1) reactor day(-1), 99% of the acetonitrile was removed; and 86% of the nitrogen present in acetonitrile was released as NH(3), confirming that acetonitrile volatilization was not significant. Increasing the acetonitrile loading resulted in lower removal efficiencies, but a maximum removal capacity of 1.0 g acetonitrile l(-1) reactor day(-1) was achieved at a feeding rate of 1.6 g acetonitrile l(-1) reactor day(-1). The removal capacity of the system was well correlated with the oxygenation capacity, showing that acetonitrile removal was likely to be limited by oxygen supply. Microbial characterization of the biofilm resulted in the isolation of a Comamonas sp. able to mineralize acetonitrile as sole carbon, nitrogen and energy source. This organism was closely related to C. testosteroni (91.2%) and might represent a new species in the Comamonas genus. This study confirms the potential of packed-bed reactors for the treatment of a concentrated mixture of volatile pollutants.