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Effect of metabolic uncouplers on the performance of toluene-degrading biotrickling filter

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Abstract

The biomass control potential of three metabolic uncouplers (carbonyl cyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP), carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), and m-chlorophenol (m-CP)) was tested in biotrickling filters (BTFs) degrading toluene. The experiments employed two types of reactors: a traditional column design and a novel differential BTF (DBTF) reactor developed by De Vela and Gostomski (J Environ Eng 147:04020159, 2021). Uncouplers caused the toluene elimination capacity (EC) (~33 g/m3h for column reactors and ~600 g/m3h for DBTF) to decrease by 15–97% in a dose-dependent fashion. The EC completely recovered in the column reactor in 3 to 13 days, while only partial recovery happened in the DBTF. Short-term (1 to 3 days) true uncoupling was indicated by the 20–160% increase in %CO2 recovery, depending on concentration. FCCP and CCCP increased the pressure drop due to increased extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production for protection against the uncouplers. The 4.0-mM m-CP weakened the biofilm in the BTF bed, as evidenced by the 130–500% increase in the total organic carbon in the liquid sump of the column and DBTF reactors. Moreover, a microbial shift led to the proliferation of genera that degrade uncouplers, further demonstrating that the uncouplers tested were not a sustainable biomass control strategy in BTFs.

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Data availability

This manuscript contains Supplementary Information which may provide additional information about the study. Other datasets relative to this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the New Zealand ASEAN Scholarship provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the PhD scholarship of RJDV.

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  1. Roger Jay De Vela

    Present address: Camarines Norte State College, F. Pimentel Avenue, 4600, Daet, Camarines Norte, Philippines

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  1. Chemical and Process Engineering Department, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Roger Jay De Vela, Kathryn Wigley, Kim Baronian & Peter Alan Gostomski

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Contributions

The following are the contributions of the authors:

RJDV was involved in the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, and writing of the original draft of this manuscript. KW helped RJDV in the methodology for microbial community and in the analysis of such results. KB was involved in the conceptualization and supervision. PAG was the main supervisor and was involved in the conceptualization, provision of resources, data interpretation, and project administration. KW, KM, and PG all contributed to the review and editing of the manuscript prepared by RJDV.

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Correspondence to Roger Jay De Vela.

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De Vela, R.J., Wigley, K., Baronian, K. et al. Effect of metabolic uncouplers on the performance of toluene-degrading biotrickling filter. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 41881–41895 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13708-w

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