Treatment of substituted phenol mixtures in single phase and two-phase solid-liquid partitioning bioreactors

The biological treatment of phenolics is constrained by the inherent cytotoxicity of these compounds. One method to alleviate such toxicity is to add a sequestering phase to absorb, and subsequently release, the substrate(s) to the micro-organisms; such a system is termed a Two Phase Partitioning Bioreactor. Here we have compared the performance of a TPPB, relative to single phase operation, in which a small volume (5%, v/v) of beads of the polymer Hytrel 8206 was used to treat aqueous mixtures of 2,4-dimethylphenol and 4-nitrophenol. Hytrel 8206 was selected from a range of polymers that were tested for their partition coefficients (PCs) for the target molecules, with the more hydrophobic compound (2,4-dimethylphenol) having a higher PC value (201) than 4-nitrophenol (143). Significantly increased removal rates for both substrates were demonstrated in TPPB mode relative to single phase operation. Additionally, the differential release of the compounds to the aqueous phase and their distinct PC values changed the kinetic pattern of the biotreatment system, smoothing out the cellular oxygen demand. Release of the substrates by the polymer over 60 operating cycles was virtually complete (>97%) demonstrating the reusability and robustness of the use of polymers in overcoming cytotoxicity of phenolic substrates.