Kinetics of Biodegradation of 2-Chlorophenol by Biomass Washed out from Biologically Active Carbon

A biofilm of microorganisms that are characterized by high tolerance and destructive efficiency with respect to the actual level of the initial concentrations of the target substance is formed when filtering xenobiotic-contaminated water through biologically active carbon (BAC). The technological possibilities of prolongation of the effective water processing on BAC are extended using biological and chemical regeneration processes. However, a special recovery procedure is necessary for chemically regenerated water, since the concentrations of target substances in it will be tens to hundreds times higher than their content in water filtered through BAC. The scheme of alkaline regeneration of BAC includes the partial washing-out of the biofilm from the bed in order to preserve the adapted consortium of microorganisms for subsequent culturing on the regenerated sorbent. In a batch apparatus designed to maintain and activate the life of the microflora washed out from the natural biofilm culture, the processes of preservation and acclimatization of microorganisms to a higher xenobiotic concentration are implemented to subsequently use the adapted biomass for recycling regenerated wastewater. The efficiency of the kinetics of destruction of 2-chlorophenol (CP) in the solution volume by microorganisms of the biomass washed out from the biofilm of the working bed of BAC is studied. The rate of destruction of CP by the biomass ( X 0 ) washed out from BAC is well described by the Haldane–Andrews kinetics. Sequential increases in the initial concentration of CP ( C 0 ) and in the C 0 : X 0 ratio lead to increases in the amount of specialized microflora in the biomass and in its activity manifested in the growth of the specific rate constant of ChP destruction. The biomass can be easily acclimatized to CP concentrations higher than those achieved in this study (90–100 mg/dm 3 ). The ability of microorganisms to quickly adapt to high concentrations of xenobiotics opens up prospects for the successful use of the suspended biofilm biomass in the recycling of wastewater from chemical regeneration of BAC.