C.B. Majumder

Biodegradation of pyridine by the new bacterial isolates S. putrefaciens and B. sphaericus

In this study, two bacterial strains capable of utilizing pyridine as a sole carbon source were isolated from biofilters. Based on the biochemical test, the organisms were identified as Shewanella putrefaciens and Bacillus sphaericus. In liquid cultures, S. putrefaciens and B. sphaericus degraded pyridine quite effectively up to 500 mg L(-1). S. putrefaciens degrades 500 mg L(-1) of pyridine completely within 140 h, whereas the B. sphaericus degrades 500 mg L(-1) of pyridine only nearly 75% and takes a longer duration of 150 h. S. putrefaciens used pyridine as sole carbon and energy source better than B. sphaericus. Monods and Haldanes inhibitory growth models were used to obtain maximum specific growth rate (micro(max)), half saturation (K(s)) and substrate inhibition (K(i)) constant for pyridine by using S. putrefaciens and B. sphaericus. The high value of K(i) for S. putrefaciens than B. sphaericus indicates that the inhibition effect can be observed only in a high concentration range. The S. putrefaciens degrades pyridine with a faster rate than B. sphaericus. S. putrefaciens can be used effectively for the treatment of pyridine bearing wastewater and as an inoculum in a biofilter treating pyridine-laden gas.

Modelling and computational fluid dynamic behaviour of a biofilter treating benzene

Biofiltration of an air stream containing benzene has been studied in a laboratory biofilter packed with a mixture of compost, sugar cane bagasse and GAC. In this study, the overall performance of a biofilter has been evaluated in terms of its elimination capacity by using 3-D mesh techniques. The overall results indicate that the agreement between experimental data and estimated model predictions is excellent for benzene. The benzene concentration profiles along the depth of biofilter have also been determined using a convection-diffusion reactor (CDR) model and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique. At low flow rates and low concentrations of benzene, the concentration profile throughout the biofilter shows good agreement with CDR model and it becomes more curved and resembles typical decay. Combined analysis of experimental results with CDR model and the CFD shows that the profile of benzene at low concentration becomes more curved and then linear at high concentration. The benzene profiles obtained by CFD are within 5% accuracy of experimental results. The CDR and CFD models are found to be able to predict concentration profiles preciously with depth under the experimental conditions.

Pretreated algal bloom as a substantial nutrient source for microalgae cultivation for biodiesel production

In the present investigation, toxic algal bloom, a copious and low-cost nutrient source was deployed for cultivating Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Various pre-treatment methods using combinations of acid/alkali and autoclave/microwave were tested for preparing hydrolysates and compared with minimal media (BG-11). Acid autoclave treatment resulted in maximum carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous content which substantially boosted the growth of the microalgal cells (4.36g/L) as compared to rest of the media. The microalga grown in this media also showed enhanced lipid content (43.2%) and lipid productivity (188mg/L/d) as compared to BG-11 (19.42mg/L/d). The biochemical composition showed 1.6-fold declines in protein while 1.27 folds in carbohydrate content as compared to BG-11. The fatty acid profile revealed the presence of C14-C22 with increased amount of monounsaturated fatty acids as compared to BG-11. The results obtained showed that algal bloom can be used as a potential nutrient source for microalgae.

Kinetics studies of p-cresol biodegradation by using Pseudomonas putida in batch reactor and in continuous bioreactor packed with calcium alginate beads

Present study deals with the biodegradation of p-cresol by using Pseudomonas putida in a batch reactor and a continuous bioreactor packed with calcium alginate beads. The maximum specific growth rate of 0.8121 h(-1) was obtained at 200 mg L(-1) concentration of p-cresol in batch reactor. The maximum p-cresol degradation rate was obtained 6.598 mg L(-1) h(-1) at S(o)=200 mg L(-1) and 62.8 mg L(-1) h(-1) at S(o)=500 mg L(-1) for batch reactor and a continuous bioreactor, respectively. The p-cresol degradation rate of continuous bioreactor was 9 to 10-fold higher than those of the batch reactor. It shows that the continuous bioreactor could tolerate a higher concentration of p-cresol. A Haldane model was also used for p-cresol inhibition in batch reactor and a modified equation similar to Haldane model for continuous bioreactor. The Haldane parameters were obtained as µ(max) 0.3398 h(-1), K(s) 110.9574 mg L(-1), and K(I) 497.6169 mg L(-1) in batch reactor. The parameters used in continuous bioreactor were obtained as D(max) 91.801 mg L(-1) h(-1), K(s) 131.292 mg L(-1), and K(I) 1217.7 mg L(-1). The value K(I) of continuous bioreactor is approximately 2.5 times higher than the batch reactor. Higher K(I) value of continuous bioreactor indicates P. putida can grow at high range of p-cresol concentration. The ability of tolerance of higher p-cresol concentrations may be one reason for biofilm attachment on the packed bed in the continuous operation.