Kinetics of bisphenol A degradation by Sphingomonas paucimobilis FJ-4

Abstract

A chemostat was operated to characterize degradation of bisphenol A by Sphingomonas paucimobilis FJ-4. The chemostat at 30°C was fed with a medium containing 150mgL(-1) of BPA as the sole carbon and energy source. At the short cell retention time of 8h, the bacterial cells were washed out from the chemostat. At long cell retention times of 12, 16, 24, and 48h, steady-states of the bacterial growth on BPA degradation were achieved after a lag time of 16-57h. A mathematical model was applied to evaluate the BPA degradation ability of strain FJ-4. The maximum specific degradation rate, the half saturation constant, the cell yield, and the specific decay rate were estimated respectively as 0.46mg-BPA (mg-VSS h)(-1), 13.1mgL(-1), 0.39mg-VSS mg-BPA(-1), and 0.0014h(-1).