Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of phenol-acclimated activated sludge in the presence of various phenolic compounds in the separated batch reactors. The phenol-acclimated activated sludge was observed to be capable of completely removing phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol, and 4-chlorophenol. Nevertheless, in the presence of 2-chlorophenol and 3-chlorophenol merely at 50 mg/L, incomplete removal of these phenolic compounds were noticed. The specific oxygen uptake rate patterns obtained for phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol, and 4-chlorophenol could be used to approximate the end point of these phenolic compounds removal as well as to monitor the growth of biomass. As the 2-chlorophenol and 3-chlorophenol were only partially removed in the mixed liquor, the patterns of specific oxygen uptake rate attained for these phenolic compounds were not feasible for the similar estimation. The calculated toxicity percentages show the toxicity effects of phenolic compounds on the phenol-acclimated activated sludge followed the order of 2-chlorophenol ≈ 3-chlorophenol > 4-chlorophenol > o-cresol ≈ m-cresol > phenol.
Highlights
Phenolic compounds such as phenol, chlorophenols, and cresols are found in the mixture with diverse concentrations in the aqueous effluents discharged from a huge range of industrial processes, e.g., during the production of fungicides and herbicides, oil and petroleum refining processes, solvents, paints, and wood preservative industries (Kim and Moon 2005; Lee et al 2005; Michalowicz and Duda 2007)
The accumulation of brown colour polymers as reported in their study was found in this study with 2-CP and 3-CP in the batch reactors
The phenol-acclimated activated sludge was capable of completely removing phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol, and 4-CP in the batch experiment studies
Summary
Phenolic compounds such as phenol, chlorophenols, and cresols are found in the mixture with diverse concentrations in the aqueous effluents discharged from a huge range of industrial processes, e.g., during the production of fungicides and herbicides, oil and petroleum refining processes, solvents, paints, and wood preservative industries (Kim and Moon 2005; Lee et al 2005; Michalowicz and Duda 2007). Physical and chemical methods such as solvent extraction, ion exchange, adsorption, and chemical oxidation are usually used to treat wastewaters containing phenolic compounds These processes often lead to the production of toxic intermediates and the costs involved are expensive. The presence of the mixture of phenolic compounds in the industrial wastewaters warrant further assessment on the capability of single phenolic compound acclimated activated sludge to treat these wastewaters
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