Abstract
Aerobic biodegradation of nitrobenzene (NB) produces nitrophenol (NP), which has stronger toxicity than NB. Anaerobic biodegradation of NB produces aniline (AN), which has weaker toxicity, but is a dead-end product in anaerobic conditions. Accumulation of AN should be overcome by coupling anaerobic and aerobic transformations: NB is transformed to AN in an anaerobic zone of the bioreactor, and AN is then transformed in an aerobic zone. A vertical baffled bioreactor (VBBR) was employed for NB biodegradation with a controlled dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration. NB biodegradation was accelerated by simultaneous anaerobic and aerobic transformations, since AN was biotransformed by a mono-oxygenase reaction. Adding exogenous electron donor (acetate) enhanced NB removals when the DO concentration was ∼0.5 mg/L, because the donor accelerated mono-oxygenations of NB and AN. Coupling anaerobic and aerobic transformations can be a valuable strategy for biodegrading organic compounds that undergo aerobic and anaerobic biotransformations.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 264-269 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Environmental Management |
Volume | 226 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 15 2018 |
Keywords
- Aniline
- Biotransformation
- Mono-oxygenation
- Nitrobenzene
- Nitrophenol
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Engineering
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law