Kinetics and simulations of substrate interactions during the biodegradation of benzene, toluene, p-xylene and styrene

Abstract

Air streams commonly emitted from industrial sources generally contain various mixtures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and these complex mixtures can present challenges with respect to bioreactor design and applications. In this study, therefore, a modified Monod-type model using interaction parameters was employed to describe the biodegradation kinetics of mixtures of aromatic compounds by a Pseudomonas isolate. In addition, the model and estimated parameters were utilized to predict the performance of a bubble-column bioreactor for the treatment of mixtures of benzene, toluene, p-xylene, and styrene (BTXS). Benzene, toluene and styrene, as individual substrates, were actively degraded by the bacterial culture, whereas p-xylene was not degraded as a single substrate. Relative to the single substrate experiments, the degradation of benzene and toluene was inhibited by the other compounds, while the degradation of styrene was significantly stimulated in the presence of the other BTXS compounds. The cometabolic degradation of p-xylene was observed in the presence of benzene and toluene. The estimated interaction parameters indicated that the degradation of benzene was substantially inhibited in the presence of styrene, whereas the degradation of styrene was strongly stimulated by toluene. The kinetic coefficients and interaction parameters were used to successfully predict the biodegradation kinetics and performance of a bioreactor subjected to the quaternary mixture. Overall, the model was able to provide reasonable predictions when substrate interactions, including inhibition, stimulation, and cometabolism, play significant roles in biodegradation processes.

Removal of benzene, toluene, xylene and styrene by biotrickling filters and identification of their interactions

“…Toluene is among the most easily degradable pollutant, followed by styrene and xylene. Several other studies on microbial degradation of TXS compounds concluded the similar results [ 25 , 26 ]. No obvious removal was observed for benzene with inlet loadings from 20 to 450 g/m 3 h during this experimental phase.…”

Biodegradation of BTEX: Optimization through Response Surface Methodology

“…It was also reported that for the degradation of a binary mixture of Toluene and Benzene, the biomass P. putida F1 utilized Toluene better than Benzene. The presence of Toluene was also reported to inhibit the degradation of Benzene (Baggi, 2000;Jo et al, 2008;Song et al, 2012) {JIHYEON SONG, 2012, Kinetics and simulations of substrate interactions during the biodegradation of benzene`, toluene`, pxylene and styrene}. One can therefore predict that the presence of both Benzene and Ethylbenzene in the system inhibits the biodegradation of other compounds.…”

Degradation pathway and kinetic analysis for p-xylene removal by a novel Pandoraea sp. strain WL1 and its application in a biotrickling filter

“…strain T1, also appeared to have the ability to mineralize pxylene in combination with toluene [14]. Song et al [15] have recently investigated the substrate interactions of BETXs by a Pseudomonas isolate in a bubble-column bioreactor, which could not degrade p-xylene as single substrate. Besides, Bramucci et al [16] have firstly reported a novel Pandoraea sp.…”