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Simultaneous removal of benzene, toluene and xylenes mixture by a constructed microbial consortium during biofiltration

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Abstract

A bacterial consortium with complementary metabolic capabilities was formulated and specific removal rates were 0.14, 0.35, 0.04, and 0.39 h−1 for benzene, toluene, o-xylene, and m,p-xylene, respectively. When immobilized on a porous peat moss biofilter, removal of all five (= BTX) components was observed with rates of 1.8–15.4 g m−3 filter bed h−1. Elimination capacities with respect to the inlet gas concentrations of BTX and airflow rates showed diffusive regimes in the tested concentration range of (0.1–5.3 g m−3) and airflow (0.55–1.82 m3 m−2 h−1) except for o-xylene which reached its critical gas concentration at 0.3 g m−3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Life Sciences, Hallym University, Chunchon, 200-702, Korea

    Sung-Chang Choi

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering & Biotechnology, Myongji University, Yongin, 449-728, Korea

    Young-Sook Oh

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  1. Sung-Chang Choi
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  2. Young-Sook Oh
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Choi, SC., Oh, YS. Simultaneous removal of benzene, toluene and xylenes mixture by a constructed microbial consortium during biofiltration. Biotechnology Letters 24, 1269–1275 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016273828254

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