M.V.V. CHANDANA LAKSHMI, M.P. KUSLIMA. a AND V. SRIDEVI
Abstract
Phenolic compounds are hazardous pollutants and they enter the environment through wastewater discharges from a variety of industries. As a consequence, it is necessary to reduce phenolic concentration of industrial effluents. Biological method of reducing phenolic content is more economical than that by physico-chemical methods. In the present study phenol biodegradation in a batch reactor using the pure culture of Pseudonzonas putida and Pseudonzonas fluorescens was attempted. The main objective of this work is to determine the kinetics of phenol biodegradation by measuring the biomass growth rate and phenol concentration as a function of time in a batch reactor. The kinetic constants, specific growth rate (u,.), inhibition coefficient for phenol (k) and half saturation coefficient for phenol(k) were determined using Haldane equation .The length of the lag phase before the exponential growth phase increased linearly with the increase in the concentration of phenol. P. putida showed a greater value of specific growth rate than P. fizzore....:4.-ens. Therefore, selection of pure culture of P. putida could lead to higher efficiencies of phenol degradation than P. fluorescens.