Abstract
This study explores production of an efficient bioflocculant; BF-VB2, by strain Bacillus sp. TERI VB2 and proposes its potential application in wastewater treatment. One milligram of BF-VB2 can effectively flocculate 1980.0 mg ± 5.0 mg of kaolin particles leading to 99.0% ± 0.5% enhancement in flocculation activity and 99.6% ± 1.0% reduction in turbidity; in less time. BF-VB2 when applied for treatment of textile dyeing industrial wastewater revealed reduction in dye color (82.78% ± 3.03%), COD (92.54% ± 0.24%), TSS (73.59% ± 0.71%), and chloride ions (81.90% ± 0.716%). The best-fit kinetic model (for both COD removal, and dye decolorization) was pseudo-first order with regression coefficient of 0.98 and 0.95, and rate constant of 4.33 × 10-2 and 1.83 × 102, respectively. Bridging due to presence of surface charges have been proposed as flocculation mechanism. From results obtained during test-tube studies, flocculation in larger volumes (0.01–5.0 L) was also performed to intend taking up BF-VB2 for in situ industrial wastewater treatment. This eco-friendly polysaccharide bioflocculant had longer shelf-life, stability to pH and temperature, cation-independence, and emerged to be more efficient than other flocculants assessed. This study proposed BF-VB2 as a potential natural flocculant candidate for industrial application.
Highlights
Due to rapid industrialization, water pollution has become a major concern for both government and researchers worldwide (Okaiyeto et al, 2016b)
Based on the points highlighted above, we report for the effective production of a bacterial flocculant designated as BF-VB2 and its role in treatment of wastewater
Out of 26 bacterial strains obtained, 5 were purified and examined for bioflocculant production; the bacterial strain which exhibited highest activity was selected for further studies
Summary
Water pollution has become a major concern for both government and researchers worldwide (Okaiyeto et al, 2016b). Several bacterial species have been reported for their superior flocculating activity, yield, and various additional functions in wastewater treatment, such as biosorption of heavy metals (Salehizadeh and Shojaosadati, 2003); microbial load removal (Buthelezi et al, 2009); dye color removal (Zhang et al, 2007; Li et al, 2013); COD reduction (Zhang et al, 2007; Gong et al, 2008); antioxidant activity (Raza et al, 2012); sludge dewatering (Liu et al, 2014), etc. We have emphasized on assessment of this bioflocculant through: (a) its characterization; (b) investigation of its flocculation performance, properties, kinetics, and mechanism of action; (c) comparison of its efficiency with other flocculants; (d) evaluating its role in both clay and dye flocculation; and (e) progressive large volume treatment of wastewater through flocculation process. With the results obtained in this study, authors are hopeful toward efficiency of BF-VB2 as a potential cleaner bioflocculant and further development of an upscale real wastewater treatment process is in progress
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