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Biological Treatment of Toxic Petroleum Spent Caustic in Fluidized Bed Bioreactor Using Immobilized Cells of Thiobacillus RAI01

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Abstract

In the present studies, newly isolated Thiobacillus sp was used for the treatment of synthetic spent sulfide caustic in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed bioreactor. The sulfide oxidation was tested using Ca-alginate immobilized Thiobacillus sp. Initially, response surface methodology was applied for the optimization of four parameters to check the sulfide oxidation efficiency in batch mode. Further, reactor was operated in continuous mode for 51 days at different sulfide loading rates and retention times to test the sulfide oxidation and sulfate and thiosulfate formation. Sulfide conversions in the range of 90–98% were obtained at almost all sulfide loading rates and hydraulic retention times. However, increased loading rates resulted in lower sulfide oxidation capacity. All the experiments were conducted at constant pH of around 6 and temperature of 30 ± 5 °C.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to Dr. J.S. Yadav, Director, IICT, for his encouragement. One of the authors, P. Ravichandra, acknowledges CSIR, New Delhi, for senior research fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bioengineering and Environmental Center, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, 500607, India

    Ravichandra Potumarthi

  2. Bioengineering and Environmental Center, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Tarnaka, Hyderabad, 500607, India

    Annapurna Jetty

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, 575025, India

    Gopal Mugeraya

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  1. Ravichandra Potumarthi
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  2. Gopal Mugeraya
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  3. Annapurna Jetty
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Correspondence to Annapurna Jetty.

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Potumarthi, R., Mugeraya, G. & Jetty, A. Biological Treatment of Toxic Petroleum Spent Caustic in Fluidized Bed Bioreactor Using Immobilized Cells of Thiobacillus RAI01. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 151, 532–546 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-008-8229-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-008-8229-9

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