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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Bioprospecting of Extremophilic Microorganisms to Address Environmental Pollution
Published on: December 30, 2021
Application of a solvent-tolerant microbial consortium for biofiltration of extremely high concentration gaseous
M Leethochawalit1, J A S Goodwin, V Meeyoo
1Biochemical Engineering and Environmental Technologies Group, Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK.
Abstract:
The aerobic biological oxidation of 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol, IPA) at extremely high concentrations in air by an enriched solvent-tolerant microbial consortium operating at ambient temperature was evaluated for six months. Solvent-tolerant microbial cells were immobilised onto porous glass pall rings and fed with either IPA or its metabolic product acetone as sole carbon source. Successful biofiltration of solvent vapour at a concentration of 24 g m(-3) was achieved with oxidation of up to 100% total inlet carbon. The maximum IPA mass loading and IPA elimination capacity (EC) was 1700 g m(-3) h(-1). This performance exceeds all previous values published in the literature for similar processes. A slip feed experiment, using acetone, was also performed in order to assess the substrate specificity performance. The biofilter responded successfully to a switch from acetone to IPA as sole carbon source, displaying little reduction in overall organic carbon removal.
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