Abstract:

The biodegradability of TCE and phenol was studied by the microorganisms acclimated with phenol, and was expressed by oxygen consumption of microorganisms measured with Warburg respirometer.The study also examined the feasibility of TCE degradation using phenol as cometabolic substrate. The results showed that TCE couldn′t be degraded in unacclimated activated sludge. It was also demonstrated that TCE could be efficiently degraded by phenol-acclimated activated sludge at TCE concentration of 50 μg/L and the bio-oxidation ratio was 33.69%, whereas the efficiency was low at 100 μg/L with the ratio of 3.2% only.In presence of phenol and TCE, phenol enhanced TCE transformation rate. When the initial concentrations of phenol and TCE were up to 40 mg/L and 50 μg/L respectively, the maximum cometabolic degradation efficiency of TCE was obtained, up to 79.11% in the study.

Key words: trichloroethylene (TCE), phenol, activated sludge, Warburg respirometer, cometabolic degradation