Biodegradation kinetics of LAS in river water

This article reports the biodegradation kinetics of linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS) in river water. The authors used the `river die-away' test method and high performance liquid chromatography to monitor LAS concentrations as functions of time in a series of tests systems. Controlled variables included initial LAS concentrations and incubation temperature. The kinetic parameters computed from the experimental data demonstrated strong correlations ( r 2>0.99) with theoretical values computed from the kinetic model presented in this paper. The proposed model accurately predicts concentrations of non-biodegradable substrate and the maximum specific microbial growth rate.