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ABSTRACT: The oxidation of phenol by Fenton's reagent was investigated in a medium suitable for bioremediation. An experimental design approach, based on a central composite rotatable design, was used to quantify the effects of H2O2 concentration (2000 to 5000 mg 1(-1)) and FeSO4.7H2O concentration (500 to 2000 mg 1(-1)). Performance of the chemical oxidation by Fenton's reagent was evaluated by determining the percentage of phenol oxidized at equilibrium. The analysis of variance test indicated that both H2O2 and FeSO4.7H2O concentrations had a positive effect on phenol oxidation. Hydrogen peroxide concentration was the dominating parameter for the removal of phenol by Fenton's reagent. The optimal concentrations of H2O2 and FeSO4.7H2O for complete oxidation of 2000 mg 1(-1) phenol in the medium were found to be 4340 mg 1(-1) and 1616 mg 1(-1), respectively, at 25 degrees C and pH 3. Oxidation of phenol in the culture medium was found to be significantly different than in pure water.
Environmental Technology 01/2010; 31(1):47-52. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Beer-Lambert's law has a wide range of applications, spanning the fields of pure sciences and engineering, and is commonly used for the determination of the concentration of an optically sensitive compound, at “low” concentrations. In this report it is shown that a log-log expression, log(T/T0) = K log(C/C0), accurately models experimental data (±3%) for four different absorbing species, at “high” concentrations. The dimensionless constant K is shown to be only a characteristic of the absorbing species, and independent of the spectrophotometer/cuvette system used. The new equation is used for on-line monitoring of dynamic biomass concentration in a continuous bioreactor (CSTBR) for a step change in dilution rate.La loi de Beer-Lambert qui présente une grande variété d'applications possibles dans les domaines des sciences pures et de l'ingénierie, est couramment utilisée pour la détermination de la concentration d'espèce optiquement sensible à “basses” Concentrations. Nous montrons dans ce rapport qu'une expression log-log, log (T/T0) = K log (C/C0), représente prtcisément les données expéimentales (±3%) de quatre espèces absorbantes différentes à “hautes” concentrations. On montre que la constante adimensionnelle K ne dépend que les caractéristiques des espéces absorbantes et est indépendante du systéme cuvette-spectrophotométre utilisè. La nouvelle èquation est utilisée pour la vérification en ligne de la concentration dynamique de biomasse dans un bioréacteur continue (CSTR) pour des changements en échelon du taux de dilution.
The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 03/2009; 71(6):977 - 981. · 0.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Aqueous phase biooxidation of sulphide by the novel sulphide-oxidizing bacterium Thiomicrospira sp. CVO was studied in batch and continuous systems. CVO was able to oxidize sulphide at concentrations as high as 19 mM. Sulphide biooxidation occurred in two distinct phases, one resulting in the formation of sulphur and possibly other dissolved sulphur compounds rather than sulphate, followed by sulphate formation. The specific growth rate of CVO in the first and second phases were 0.17-0.27 and 0.04-0.05 h(-1), respectively. Nitrite accumulated in the culture during the first phase and was consumed during the second phase. The composition of end-products was influenced by the ratio of sulphide to nitrate initial concentrations. At a ratio of 0.28, sulphate represented 93% of the reaction products, while with a ratio of 1.6 the conversion of sulphide to sulphate was only 9.3%. In the continuous bioreactor, complete removal of sulphide was observed at sulphide volumetric loading rates as high as 1.6mM/h (residence time of 10h). Overall sulphide removal efficiency decreased continuously upon further increases in volumetric loading rate. However, the volumetric removal rate increased until a maximum value of 2.4mM/h was obtained at a loading rate of 3.2mM/h. The corresponding sulphide conversion and residence time were 76% and 5.6h, respectively. As expected from the high ratio of sulphide to nitrate loading rates (1.7-1.9 mM/h), no sulphate was formed in the continuous reactor. Using the experimental data the value of maximum specific growth rate, saturation constant, decay coefficient, maintenance coefficient and yield were determined to be 0.36 h(-1), 1.99 mM sulphide, 0.0014 h(-1), 0.078 mmol sulphide/mg ATPh and 0.018 mg ATP/mmol sulphide, respectively.
Water Research 08/2006; 40(12):2436-46. · 4.86 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Alcaligenes eutrophus was grown in batch cultures using either phenol as a sole substrate or mixtures of phenol and 4-chlorophenol. Phenol was found to be the sole source for carbon and energy while 4-chlorophenol was utilized only as a cometabolite. Maximum growth rates on phenol reached only 0.26 h-1, significantly below the growth rates reported earlier with Pseudomonas putida. The cometabolite was found to decrease biomass yield and increase lag time before logarithmic growth occurred. Both phenol and 4-chlorophenol were found to inhibit the growth rate linearly with maximum concentrations of 1080 ppm and 69 ppm respectively, beyond which no growth occurred. The best-fit parameters are incorporated into a simple, dynamic (i.e. time-varying) model capable of predicting all the batch growth conditions presented here. It is shown that P. putida is capable of faster bioremediation when phenol is the sole carbon source or for mixed substrates with low concentrations of the cometabolite, but for high concentrations of 4-chlorophenol, A. eutrophus becomes superior because of the long lag times that occur in the Pseudomonas species.
Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 10/1996; 46(2):163-8. · 3.42 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: On-line optimization of bioprocesses is a difficult task due to lack of suitable on-line sensors, absence of accurate mathematical models, and complex non-linear dynamic behaviour. In the present investigation, an algorithm was developed for on-line state estimation and optimization of a continuous bioreactor (ethanol fennentation), using state equations. A number of case studies are presented which verify the performance of the algorithm.
American Control Conference, 1993; 07/1993
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ABSTRACT: In ethanol fermentation, instantaneous biomass yield of the yeast Saccharmoyces cerevisiae was found to decrease (from 0.156 to 0.026) with increase in ethanol concentration (from 0 to 107 g/L), indicating a definite relationship between biomass yield and product inhibition. A suitable model was proposed to describe this decrease which incorporates the kinetic parameters of product inhibition rather than pure empirical constants. Substrate inhibition was found to occur when substrate concentration is above 150 g/L. A similar definite relationship was observed between substrate inhibition and instantaneous biomass yield. A simple empirical model is proposed to describe the declines in specIfic growth rate and biomass yield due to substrate inhibition. It is observed that product inhibition does not have any effect on product yield whereas substrate inhibition significantly affects the product yield, reflecting a drop in overall product yield from 0.45 to 0.30 as the initial substrate concentration increases from 150 to 280 g/L. These results are expected to have a significant influence in formulating optimum fermentor design variables and in developing an effective control strategy for optimizing ethanol producitivity.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering 07/1992; 40(2):289-97. · 3.95 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Continuous monitoring of concentration is important in the optimal control of bioreactors. Spectrophotometry provides a simple, accurate, and rapid way for measuring cell concentration of unicellular microorganisms, based on either Beer's law or calibration curves prepared using standard solutions. However, this method is limited to a low range of microbial concentrations, because Beer's law deviates significantly at high concentrations. In the present investigation, based on experimental work, a new technique is posed to monitor the concentration of microbial cells as high as 100 g DW/L. this is achieved by using a mixture of known concentration as reference, rather than the "ideal blank" with zero concentration of analyte. As a result, a new equation is developed that, although applied here only to microbial concentration, in principle can be used for monitoring the concentration of any optically sensitive material.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering 12/1991; 38(9):1007-11. · 3.95 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The removal of substate molecules from aerobic microbial cultures is due to both consumption by microorganisms and stripping by the air stream. The air stripping component can be described by a constant parameter for low concentrations of volatile substrates. This air stripping parameter was found to have a value of 0.0033 h(-1) for phenol molecules in a typical fermentation situation. The determination and inclusion of this constant is important for modeling microbial growth. For Pseudomonas putida growing on phenol, it is shown that air stripping is responsible for all of the original decline in phenol concentration. Further, the kinetic inhibition constant is sensitive to both the value of the air stripping parameter and the value of the initial concentration of bacteria. The experimental data for Pseudomonas putida growing on phenol was fit by a non-linear, least squares technique to isolate the inhibition constant between 100 and 600 ppm.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering 10/1987; 30(4):521-7. · 3.95 Impact Factor
