Modeling Cr(VI) Reduction and Phenol Degradation in a Coculture Biofilm Reactor
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 11
Abstract
A transient-state model was developed to simulate simultaneous Cr(VI) reduction and phenol degradation by a coculture of Cr(VI)-reducing/phenol-degrading bacteria growing on glass bead surfaces in a fixed-film bioreactor. The coculture consisted of the Cr(VI) reducers, Escherichia coli ATCC 33456, and the phenol degraders, Pseudomonas putida DMP-1. Phenol was supplied as the sole added carbon source and electron donor. The model simulated cell growth kinetics with E. coli utilizing metabolites formed from phenol degradation in P. putida as carbon sources. Substrate utilization and Cr(VI) reduction in the fixed-film bioreactor was represented by a system of (second-order) partial differential equations (PDEs). The PDE system was solved by the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method adjusted for mass transport resistance by the second-order Crank–Nicholson and backward Euler methods. A heuristic procedure, genetic search algorithm, was used to optimize the model against experimental data. The model predicted effluent concentration with 98.6% confidence for Cr(VI), 93.4% confidence for phenol, and 88.3% confidence for metabolites. Parameters determined showed higher Cr(VI) and phenol removal kinetics in the biofilm system than previously observed in batch systems.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded partially by the USEPA through an exploratory research grant awarded to the second writer under the agreement UNSPECIFIEDR-822307-01-0 and by University of Kentucky Graduate School through Graduate Research Grants and Fellowships. Special thanks are due to Seongjai Kim of the University of Kentucky Mathematics Department for guidance in the numerical solution of PDEs.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 11 • November 2005
Pages: 1495 - 1506
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 15, 2004
Accepted: Dec 20, 2004
Published online: Nov 1, 2005
Published in print: Nov 2005
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