Abstract
The removal of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) as quaternary mixtures were studied in batch systems using a well-defined mixed microbial culture. The synergistic and antagonistic effects of total BTEX removal (BTEX T-RE) due to the presence of mixed substrate was evaluated through experiments designed by response surface methodology (RSM). The low and high concentrations of individual BTEX were 15 and 75 mg l −1, respectively. The results showed that, increasing the concentration of xylene increased the cumulative BTEX removal (BTEX T-RE), however the reverse occurred when benzene concentrations were increased from low to high levels. A mixed response of increasing and decreasing trend in the BTEX T-RE value was observed when either of toluene or ethylbenzene concentration was increased. When the concentrations of individual BTEX compounds were 30 mg l −1, the BTEX T-RE was about 58%. Complete BTEX T-RE was achieved at optimal BTEX concentrations of 48.1, 45.6, 49.3 and 56.6 mg l −1. The RSM approach was found efficient in explaining the main, squared and interaction effects among individual BTEX concentrations on the BTEX T-RE in a more statistically meaningful way.
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