A Comparative and Optimization Study on Phenol Degradation by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (NCIM 2074) and Pseudomonas Desmolyticum (NCIM 2028)

V.  Sridevi* and M. V. V. Chandana Lakshmi

Department of Chemical Engineering (Biotechnology), Andhra University, Visakhapatnam - 03 India.

Corresponding Author E-mail: vellurusridevi@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT: Phenol is a reasonably common wastewater contaminant, which has been found to be either toxic or lethal to fish, and most types of organisms at relatively low concentrations. Studies on microbial means of treating or removing phenols date back to atleast three decades. It was found that degrading potential of Pseudomonas sp., was strongly affected by the variations in pH, temperature, inoculum size. The purpose of this investigation was to study the effect of inoculum size and the influence of pH on phenol degradation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCIM 2074) and Pseudomonas desmolyticum (NCIM 2028) in batch reactor and their comparison. The maximum process conditions for maximizing phenol degradation (removal) were recognized as follows -P. aeruginosa: pH 7, inoculum size 5% v/v and P. desmolyticum : pH 6, inoculum size 4% v/v. P. aeruginosa had better degradation rate than P. desmolyticum. P. aeruginosa at the optimum conditions (pH 7, 5% v/v) degraded 1000 mg/l of phenol concentration and P. desmolyticum at the optimum conditions (pH 6, 4% v/v) could not tolerate 1000 mg/l of phenol concentration and could degrade upto 700 mg/l. Hence, maximum removal efficiency of phenol was achieved at the optimum process conditions by P. aeruginosa (pH 7, 5% v/v).

KEYWORDS: Phenol; Biodegradation; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; P; desmolyticum; pH; Inoculum size

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