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Biodegradation of phenol from a synthetic aqueous system using acclimatized activated sludge

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Abstract

Phenol is one of the aromatic hydrocarbons. Phenol and its derivatives are highly toxic. These pollutants can be observed in the effluents of many industries. This research investigates the removal of phenol by the use of activated sludge in a batch system. The effects of influencing factors on biodegradation efficiency have been evaluated. The main factors considered in this study were the volume of acclimatized activated sludge inoculation, pH, temperature, and initial concentration of phenol. The inoculation volumes of 1, 3, and 5 mL of acclimatized activated sludge were taken into account. Different pH values of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 were examined. The experiments were conducted for temperatures of 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C and initial phenol concentrations of 400, 800, 1,000, and 1,500 ppm. The results show that the acclimatized activated sludge has a high capacity for the removal of phenol. From a 100-mL aqueous solution was removed 1,500 ppm of phenol after 80 h. Furthermore, maximum phenol removal was observed for an inoculation volume of 5 mL for three different phenol concentrations of 100, 400, and 800 ppm. The best pH was 7 for the biodegradation process, and the optimum temperature was 30 °C. It was further found that an increase in the phenol concentration increased its removal time. Moreover, the activated sludge could effectively remove about 99.9 % of phenol from a synthetic aqueous solution in a batch system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mining, Petroleum and Geophysics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

    Haniyeh Jalayeri & Faramarz Doulati Ardejani

  2. Department of Environment, Islamic Azad University-North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Marandi

  3. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Saeed Rafiee pur

Authors
  1. Haniyeh Jalayeri
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  2. Faramarz Doulati Ardejani
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  3. Reza Marandi
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  4. Saeed Rafiee pur
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Correspondence to Haniyeh Jalayeri.

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Jalayeri, H., Doulati Ardejani, F., Marandi, R. et al. Biodegradation of phenol from a synthetic aqueous system using acclimatized activated sludge. Arab J Geosci 6, 3847–3852 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-012-0643-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-012-0643-1

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