Experts from the Perm National Research Polytechnic University (PNRPU) have found a new method for biological purification of wastewater from phenol. socialbites.ca was informed about this by the press service of the scientific institution.
Phenol is widely used in industry for the production of polymer materials, oil refinery and pharmaceutical products. At the same time, phenol and its derivatives are highly toxic chemicals. Its long-term impact on a person can cause serious disorders in the nervous system, malfunction of the respiratory organs and even the heart.
Knowing that some microbes feed on phenol, PNRPU scientists isolated a suitable culture of microorganisms and determined how the chemicals affect their growth and vital functions.
During the study, the polytechnic determined the concentration of phenol at which bacterial growth would be maximum. To do this, we examined their behavior in environments with different substance contents from 0 to 100 mg/l. The optimal value for good microbial growth was 50 mg/l; A higher phenol content (100 mg/l) reduces the growth rate and a lower content does not provide sufficient nutrition for microorganisms.
“We carried out an experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of using a solid carrier and compared the use of bacteria in their natural state and when adhered to sawdust. The use of additional absorbent material preserves the biochemical activity of microorganisms towards phenol,” Anastasia Korzukhina, a graduate student of the Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology of PNIPU, told socialbites.ca. He said: “The results of the experiment showed that bacteria adhering to sawdust used phenol better than in its natural state.”
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