RESUMO
The effluents from pulp and paper manufacturing industries contain high concentrations of phenol, which when discharged directly into surface water streams, increases the biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). In this study, two dominant bacteria SP-4 and SP-8 were isolated from the effluent emanating with a pulp and paper industry. The selected phenol-degrading isolates were identified as Staphylococcus sp. and Staphylococcus sciuri respectively by using nucleotide sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of 16 S rRNA regions of the genome. The two isolates used for the biodegradation process effectively degraded phenol concentration of pulp and paper industry effluent upto 1600 and 1800 mg/L resepctively. The individual isolates and consortium were immobilized using activated carbon, wood dust, and coal ash. Additionally, the effluent was treated using a bio-filter tower packed column immobilized with bacterial cells at a constant flow rate of 5 mL/min. The present study showed that the developed immobilized microbial consortium can effectively degrade 99% of the phenol present in pulp and paper industry effluents, resulting in a significant reduction in BOD and COD of the system. This study can be well implemented on real-scale systems as the bio-filter towers packed with immobilized bacterial consortium can effectively treat phenol concentrations up to 1800 mg/L. The study can be implemented for bioremediation processes in phenolic wastewater-contaminated sites.
RESUMO
Herbal waste produced during the manufacturing of herbal products is a potential feedstock for anaerobic digestion due to high amount of organic matter that can be transformed into biogas as an energy resource. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to convert herbal waste produced during the manufacturing of common of Ayurveda products into biogas through anaerobic digestion process using batch test study under controlled mesophilic temperature conditions of 35 °C with food to inoculum ratio of 0.75. The maximum biomethane potential (BMP) of 0.90 (gCH4COD/g CODfed) and sludge activity of 0.70 (gCH4-CD/gVSS) was exhibited by WS herbal waste owing to its high chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 4 g/g and better solubilization potential of the organic matter showing change in volatile suspended solids (ΔVSS) of 79%. On the other hand, the waste derived from the TA herb, exhibited the least biogas yield of 0.55 (gCH4COD/g CODfed) and sludge activity of 0.40 (gCH4-CD/gVSS), albeit with higher organic matter present. This was due to the possible hindrance of waste solubilization by the presence of lignin. The waste derived from VVL and PE showed intermediate BMP and sludge activity. The methane generation rate constant (k), a key indicator of the biodegradation potential, was also evaluated. The k values showed similar trend as of BMP values ranging from 0.081 to 0.15 d-1 thus indicating the influence of presence of lignin and the change in ΔVSS. The present study proves anaerobic digestion to be an alternative treatment method to be a milestone for management of herbal wastes and can be successfully implemented on real-scale systems.