Environmental Science and Pollution Research

, Volume 23, Issue 5, pp 4129–4137 | Cite as

Biodegradation of toluene vapor in coir based upflow packed bed reactor by Trichoderma asperellum isolate

  • M. Gopinath
  • C. Mohanapriya
  • K. Sivakumar
  • G. Baskar
  • C. Muthukumaran
  • R. Dhanasekar
Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

In the present study, a new biofiltration system involving a selective microbial strain isolated from aerated municipal sewage water attached with coir as packing material was developed for toluene degradation. The selected fungal isolate was identified as Trichoderma asperellum by 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequencing method, and pylogenetic tree was constructed using BLASTn search. Effect of various factors on growth and toluene degradation by newly isolated T. asperellum was studied in batch studies, and the optimum conditions were found to be pH 7.0, temperature 30 °C, and initial toluene concentration 1.5 (v/v)%. Continuous removal of gaseous toluene was monitored in upflow packed bed reactor (UFPBR) using T. asperellum. Effect of various parameters like column height, flow rate, and the inlet toluene concentration were studied to evaluate the performance of the biofilter. The maximum elimination capacity (257 g m−3 h−1) was obtained with the packing height of 100 cm with the empty bed residence time of 5 min. Under these optimum conditions, the T. asperellum showed better toluene removal efficiency. Kinetic models have been developed for toluene degradation by T. asperellum using macrokinetic approach of the plug flow model incorporated with Monod model.

Keywords

Biofilter Trichoderma asperellum UFPBR Plug flow model Kinetics Removal efficiency Toluene 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The first author wishes to thank the Management and Department of Biotechnology, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai, for providing facilities to carry out this work. Also thank the Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University for constant support, guidance and encouragement for performing this research work.

References

  1. Berenjian A, Chan N, Malmiri HJ (2012) Volatile organic compounds removal methods: a review. Am J Biochem Biotechnol 8:220–229CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Chunping Y, Guanlong Y, Guangming Z, Haining Y, Fayuan C, Congying J (2011) Performance of biotricking filters packed with structured or cubic polyurethane sponges for VOC removal. J Environ Sci 23:1325–1333CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Daugulis AJ, Boudreau NG (2003) Removal and destruction of high concentrations of gaseous toluene in a two-phase partitioning bioreactor by Alcaligenes xylosoxidans. Biotechnol Lett 25:1421–1424CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Deshusses MA, Johnson AT, Leson G (1999) Biofilteration of high loads of ethyl acetate in the presence of toluene. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 49:973–979CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Dorado AD, Lafuente FJ, Gabriel D, Gamisans X (2010) A comparative study based on physical characteristics of suitable packing materials in biofiltration. Environ Technol 31:193–204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Eszenyiova A, Bilska V, Rajnohova V (2001) Removal of VOC from waste gases by biofiltration technology. Pet Coal 43:22–26Google Scholar
  7. Fu Y, Shao L, Liu H, Tong L, Liu H (2011) Ethylene removal evaluation and bacterial community analysis of vermicompost as biofilter material. J Hazard Mater 192:658–666CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Ghorbani SF, Golbabaei F, Hamedi J, Mahjub H, Darabi HR, Shahtaheri SJ (2010) Treatment of benzene, toluene and xylene contaminated air in a bioactive foam emulsion reactor. Chin J Chem Eng 18:113–121CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Gopinath M, Dhanasekar R (2012) Microbial degradation of toluene. Afr J Biotechnol 11:16210–16219Google Scholar
  10. Ines GP, Ortiz I, Hernandez S, Revah S (2008) Biofiltration of BTEX by the fungus Paecilomyces variotii. Int Biodeterior Biodegradation 62:442–447CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Khan FI, Ghoshal AK (2000) Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from polluted air – Review. J Loss Prevent Proc Ind 13:527–545CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Kim BJ, Zhu X, Suidan M, Yang C (2002) An innovative biofilter for treating VOCs and odors in air emissions: A new concept of biofiltration. Proceed Clean Air Sym San Diego, CAGoogle Scholar
  13. Liu D, Coloe S, Baird R, Pedersen J (2000) Rapid mini preparation for fungal DNA for PCR. J Clin Microbiol 38:471Google Scholar
  14. Maestre JP, Gamisans X, Gabriel D, Lafuente J (2007) Fungal biofilters for toluene biofiltration: evaluation of the performance with four packing materials under different operating conditions. Chemosphere 67:684–692CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Marban G, Solis TV, Fuertes AB (2006) Modeling the breakthrough behavior of an activated carbon fiber monolith in n-butane adsorption from diluted streams. Chem Eng Sci 61:4762–4772CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Mathur AK, Majumder CB (2008) Biofiltration and Kinetic aspects of a biotrickling filter for the removal of paint solvent mixture laden air stream. J Hazard Mater 152:1027–1036CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Ortiz I, Revah S, Auria R (2003) Effects of packing material on the biofilteration of benzene, toluene and xylene vapors. Environ Technol 24:265–275CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Pakamas C, Yada N, Charun B (2005) Biofilteration of air contaminated with methanol and toluene. Songklanakarin J Sci Technol 27:761–773Google Scholar
  19. Qi B, Moe WM (2006) Performance of low pH biofilters treating a paint solvent mixture: continuous and intermittent loading. J Hazard Mater 135:303–310CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Raquel L, Elisa R, Garcia-Encina PA, Raul MA (2011) Comparative assessment of biofiltration and activated sludge diffusion for odour abatement. J Hazard Mater 190:622–630CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Rene ER, Murthy DVS, Swaminathan T (2009) Treatment of benzene vapors from contaminated air stream in a laboratory- scale compost biofilter. Maced J Chem Chem Eng 28:119–123Google Scholar
  22. Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T (1989) Molecular cloning: A laboratory Manual, 2nd edn. Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  23. Seyed MZ, Roueinhallad J, Bahram N (2011) Removal of toluene vapors using a fungal biofilter under intermittent loading. Proc Saf Environ Protect 89:8–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Shim H, Shin EB, Yang ST (2002) A Continuous fibrous-bed bioreactor for BTEX biodegradation by a co-culture of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas fluorescens. Adv Environ Res 7:203–216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Singh RS, Rai BN, Upadhyay SN (2010) Removal of toluene vapour from air stream using a biofilter packed with polyurethane foam. Proc Saf Environ Protect 88:366–371CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Thomson JD, Gibson TJ, Plewniak F, Jeanmougin F, Higgins DG (1997) The Clustal X windows interface: Flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acid Res 25:4876–4882CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. van Groenestijn JW, van Heiningen WNM, Kraakman NJR (2001) Biofilters based on the action of fungi. Water Sci Technol 44:227–232Google Scholar
  28. Weisburg WG, Barns SM, Pelletier DA, Lane DJ (1991) 16 s ribosomal DNA amplification for phylogenetic study. J Bacteriol 173:697–703Google Scholar
  29. World Health Organization (2000) Air quality guidelines for Europe, 2nd edn. WHO Regional Publications, Copenhagen, World Health Organization Regional Office for EuropeGoogle Scholar
  30. Zilli M, Guarino C, Daffonchio D, Borin S, Converti A (2005) Laboratory-scale experiments with a powdered compost biofilter treating benzene-polluted air. Process Biochem 40:2035–2043CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • M. Gopinath
    • 1
  • C. Mohanapriya
    • 1
  • K. Sivakumar
    • 1
  • G. Baskar
    • 2
  • C. Muthukumaran
    • 3
  • R. Dhanasekar
    • 4
  1. 1.Department of BiotechnologyKarpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and TechnologyChennaiIndia
  2. 2.Department of BiotechnologySt Joseph’s College of EngineeringChennaiIndia
  3. 3.Department of Industrial BiotechnologyGovernment College of TechnologyCoimbatoreIndia
  4. 4.Department of Chemical EngineeringAnnamalai UniversityChidambaramIndia

Personalised recommendations