Investigation on phenol degradation capability of Scenedesmus regularis: influence of process parameters

Abstract

Phenol removal from environmental solutions has attracted much attention due to phenol's high toxicity, even at low concentrations. This study aims to reveal the phenol biodegradation capacity of Scenedesmus regularis. Batch system parameters (pH, amount of algal cell, phenol concentration) on biodegradation were examined. After 24 h of treatment, 92.16, 94.50, 96.20, 80.53, 65.32, 52 and 40% of phenol were removed by Scenedesmus regularis in aqueous solutions containing 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg/L of phenol, respectively. To describe the correlation between degradation rate and phenol concentration, the Michaelis-Menten kinetic equation was used where V-max and K-m are 0.82 mg phenol g algea(-1) h(-1) and 24.97 ppm, respectively. Phenol remediation ability of S.regularis can enable the usage of the spent biomass as biofuel feedstock and animal feed makes it a 'green' environmental sustainable process.