Biodegradation of a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic NSO-compounds
- Technical Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby (Denmark). Dept. of Environmental Science and Engineering
The rate of biodegradation of specific compounds in a complex mixture of aromatic compounds in an aerobic biofilm system is presented. Two systems were investigated, one with a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons (System A), the other with a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, and heterocyclic nitrogen-, sulfur-, and oxygen-containing compounds (NSO-compounds, System B). At total hydrocarbon concentrations below 0.1 mg/L, the compounds were degraded according to first-order kinetics. With increasing concentrations of total hydrocarbons the pattern differed. The removal rates of naphthalene, biphenyl, phenanthrene, quinoline, phenol, and o-cresol increased with increasing total hydrocarbon concentration or reached a maximum (zero-order) level, whereas the removal rates of toluene, benzene, o-xylene, 1,4-dimethylnaphthalene, and indene reached a maximum and then decreased. Toluene and benzene are normally considered easily biodegradable under aerobic conditions based on experiments with single compounds. It was, therefore, surprising to observe that these compounds degraded slowly in complex mixtures at total hydrocarbon concentrations of only 1 to 1.8 mg/L. The inhibition of benzene and toluene degradation was particularly strong in System B, consisting of a complex mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons, phenols, and heterocyclic NSO-compounds.
- OSTI ID:
- 479336
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950483--; ISBN 1-57477-010-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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