The use of an oil absorber as a strategy to overcome starvation periods in degrading 1,2-dichloroethane in waste gas

• Published in: Biotechnology and bioengineering Vol. 96; no. 4; pp. 673 - 686
• Main Authors: Koutinas, Michalis, Baptista, Inês I.R., Peeva, Ludmila G., Ferreira Jorge, Ruben M., Livingston, Andrew G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.03.2007; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: 1,2‐dichloroethane; 2-dichloroethane; absorber; Absorption; Air Pollutants - chemistry; Air Pollutants - metabolism; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Bioreactors; bioscrubber; Biotechnology; Ethylene Dichlorides - chemistry; Ethylene Dichlorides - metabolism; fluorescence in situ hybridisation; Fluorescence in situ hybridization; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Industrial Waste; mathematical model; Models, Theoretical; Nutrient removal; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - metabolism; Reactors; starvation period; Xanthobacter - metabolism; Degradation; Absorber; Fluorescence in situ hybridization; bioscrubber; 1,2-dichloroethane; fluorescence in situ hybridisation; Wastes; starvation period; Mathematical model
• ISSN: 0006-3592; 1097-0290
• DOI: 10.1002/bit.21133

This work investigates the use of an oil absorber as an operational strategy in vapor phase bioreactors exposed to starvation periods, during the treatment of inhibitory pollutants. After being exposed to 1,2‐dichloroethane (DCE) starvation periods, the response and stability of a combined oil‐absorber‐bioscrubber (OAB) system was compared to that of a bioscrubber only (BO) system. In the BO system, after a 5.2 days starvation period, the DCE removal efficiency was reduced to 12%, and 6 days were needed to recover the initial removal efficiency when the DCE feed resumed. The total organic discharged (TODDCE) was 16,500 gDCE m bioscrubber−3 after the DCE starvation. Biomass analysis performed using fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) showed that the microbial activity was significantly reduced during the starvation period and that 5 days were needed to recover the initial activity, after the re‐introduction of DCE. In contrast, the performance of the OAB system was stable during 5.2 days of DCE starvation. The DCE removal efficiency was not affected when the DCE feed resumed and the TODDCE was significantly reduced to 2,850 gDCE m bioscrubber−3. During starvation, the activity of the microbial culture in the OAB system showed a substantially lower decrease than in the BO system and recovered almost immediately the initial activity after the re‐introduction of DCE. Additionally, a mathematical model describing the performance of the OAB system was developed. The results of this study show that the OAB system can effectively sustain the biological treatment of waste gas during starvation periods of inhibitory pollutants. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007;96:673–686. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.