Removal kinetics of vinyl acetate under aerobic and anoxic conditions in a batch bioreactor

Vinyl acetate is a volatile organic compound widely used in the chemical industry, and there is a need for effective and economic removal of this volatile organic compound from wastewater and waste gases in chemical industries. This study aims to determine the biological treatability of vinyl acetate both under aerobic and anoxic conditions using mixed cultures obtained from a wastewater treatment plant. Considering the previous studies in the literature, testing the biodegradability of vinyl acetate under both aerobic and anoxic conditions, together with evaluating the effect of other mechanisms, such as adsorption and volatilization, on the removal of vinyl acetate, can be regarded as the prominent part of this study. Wastewater containing artificially prepared vinyl acetate was treated in a batch bioreactor, and performance and kinetic constants were investigated. Aerobic treatment under batch conditions conformed to the Haldane biokinetic equation, and the biokinetic constants of μ_max, K_s, and K_i were calculated as 0.66 h^-1, 19.67 mg L^-1 and 50.56 mg L^-1, respectively. Anoxic treatment under batch conditions conformed to the Monod biokinetic equation, and the biokinetic constants of μ_max and K_s were calculated as 0.31 h^-1 and 33.88 mg L^-1, respectively. Experiments revealed that vinyl acetate was not volatile, and its adsorption and biological treatment performances were 28% and 72%, respectively. The mixed culture had a very high performance for removing vinyl acetate under batch operating conditions. The primary mechanism of vinyl acetate removal was found to be biological treatment.