title: Co-degradation of phenol and m-cresols by upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.
abstract: The study was performed to assess the efficacy of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor for the degradation of mixtures of phenol and m-cresol. The experiments were performed in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor. The reactor was seeded with digested sewage sludge and was initially operated at 24 HRT. A phenol concentration of 200 mg/L was fed to the reactor to acclimatize the microorganisms to phenols. Subsequently the dosages of phenols were increased to 400 mg/L, 500 mg/L, and 600 mg/L. Cresols were introduced in the reactor when phenol removal efficiency of 77% was achieved at phenol concentration of 600 mg/L. Different phenol to m-cresol ratios were tried and the performance of the reactor was evaluated for each case. The result demonstrates that it is important to consider phenol/ m-cresol ratio to avoid toxic effects and both can be co-degraded successfully under anaerobic conditions provided proper acclimatization time is given.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering Section, Department of Civil Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh- 202002, UP, India. farrukhbasheer@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Izharul Haq
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Farooqi
authors.forename: Farrukh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Basheer
authors.forename: M Hasnain
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Isa
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D003408:Cresols / Q000378:metabolism*; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D003408:Cresols; D010636:Phenols; D012722:Sewage; C077977:cresol