title: Biodegradation of toluene vapor in coir based upflow packed bed reactor by Trichoderma asperellum isolate.
abstract: In the present study, a new biofiltration system involving a selective microbial strain isolated from aerated municipal sewage water attached with coir as packing material was developed for toluene degradation. The selected fungal isolate was identified as Trichoderma asperellum by 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequencing method, and pylogenetic tree was constructed using BLASTn search. Effect of various factors on growth and toluene degradation by newly isolated T. asperellum was studied in batch studies, and the optimum conditions were found to be pH 7.0, temperature 30 °C, and initial toluene concentration 1.5 (v/v)%. Continuous removal of gaseous toluene was monitored in upflow packed bed reactor (UFPBR) using T. asperellum. Effect of various parameters like column height, flow rate, and the inlet toluene concentration were studied to evaluate the performance of the biofilter. The maximum elimination capacity (257 g m(-3) h(-1)) was obtained with the packing height of 100 cm with the empty bed residence time of 5 min. Under these optimum conditions, the T. asperellum showed better toluene removal efficiency. Kinetic models have been developed for toluene degradation by T. asperellum using macrokinetic approach of the plug flow model incorporated with Monod model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai, 603 308, India. mpgopinath1980@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai, 603 308, India.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mohanapriya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering and Technology, Chennai, 603 308, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sivakumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, St Joseph's College of Engineering, Chennai, 600 119, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baskar
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, 641 013, India.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Muthukumaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University, Chidambaram, 608 002, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhanasekar
mesh_terms: D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D003059:Cocos; D005374:Filtration / Q000379:methods; D005740:Gases; D007700:Kinetics; D008031:Lignin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics*; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D014050:Toluene / Q000378:metabolism*; D014242:Trichoderma / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D012722:Sewage; C507903:coir; D014050:Toluene; D008031:Lignin
keywords: Biofilter; Kinetics; Plug flow model; Removal efficiency; Toluene; Trichoderma asperellum; UFPBR