Biodegradability Study of Potassium Hydrogen Phthalate and Benzene Using BOD5 Seed as Inoculum

Abstract

Benzene and Potassium Hydrogen Phthalate (KHP) with their immeasurable applications lead to tons of generated waste. Biodegradation is considered to be a remedy for this issue and the usage of Activated Sludge is the most dominant method used among these days. However issues of variation in its content arose and thus the usage of standardized inoculum offered opportunities to surpass these disadvantages, this study aims to test the effectivity of BOD5 Seed inoculum in degradation of Benzene and KHP and eventually apply its effectivity to aqueous organic waste. The samples were tested for Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) Test for initial analysis before it was prepared for the biodegradation process. During the biodegradation process, pH 6-8 was maintained for it was the desired environment of the seed inoculum. Monitoring was conducted through COD test. The degraded benzene sample was then subjected for GC-MS analysis. The 1000 ppm benzene sample was 99.79% degraded from an initial COD concentration of 1112.545 ppm to 2.352 ppm. On the other hand, 1000 ppm KHP sample was 47% degraded from an initial concentration of 1271.6 ppm to 673.99 ppm. There was an effect of filtration on the COD concentration obtained. In conclusion, BOD5 seed inoculum was capable of an effect of filtration on the COD concentration obtained. In conclusion, BOD5 seed inoculum was capable of degrading 1000 ppm benzene and 1000 KHP sample. However, 1000 ppm benzene sample were degraded faster than 1000 ppm KHP sample. On the other hand, higher concentrations of KHP sample were not degraded. Furthermore, treatment/degradation of aqueous organic waste using BOD5 seed inoculum is possible. Unseeded samples were also eventually degraded however slower than seeded samples.