Investigation of biological reactor designs for treatment of methanol and thiodiglycol waste streams

Biological reactor designs for the degradation of the toxic compounds methanol and thiodiglycol are compared to determine the smallest volume. Both compounds exhibit substrate-inhibited cell growth behavior. Design equations were used to simulate a continuous stirred tanks in series, and an optimized repeated fed-batch reactor. Thiodiglycol is the primary hydrolysis product of sulfur mustard (2,2[prime]-dichlorodiethyl sulfide), commonly referred to as [open quotes]mustard gas[close quotes]. Experimental data for the growth of Alcaligenes xylosoxidans xylosoxidans (SH42) on thiodiglycol was fit by an Andrews type inhibition equation, while the data and model for the growth of methanol was taken from the literature. The simulation results indicate that the repeated fed-batch reactor leads to significant volume reduction compared to the other two reactor configurations. 11 refs., 7 figs., 7 tabs.