BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, ortho-, meta-, and para-xylenes), methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE), and trichloroethylene (TCE) are among the major soil and groundwater contaminants frequently co-existing, as a result of their widespread uses. Pseudomonas plecoglossicida was immobilized on waste scrap tyre to remove these contaminants mixture from synthetic contaminated water. The microbial activity was enhanced in the immobilized system, shown by the higher colony forming units (CFUs) (40%), while BTEX were used as growth substrates. The adsorption capacity of tyres toward contaminants reached a maximum within one day, with BTEX (76.3%) and TCE (64.3%) showing the highest sorption removal capacities, followed by cis-DCE (30.0%) and MTBE (11.0%). The adsorption data fitted the Freundlich isotherm with a good linear correlation (0.989-0.999) for the initial contaminants concentration range applied (25-125mg/L). The monoaromatic hydrocarbons were almost completely removed in the immobilized system and the favourable removal efficiencies of 78% and 90% were obtained for cis-DCE and TCE, respectively. The hybrid (biological, immobilization/physical, sorption) system was further evaluated with the contaminants spiked intermittently for the stable performance. The addition of mineral salt medium further enhanced the bioremoval of contaminants by stimulating the microbial growth to some extent.
Keywords: BTEX; MTBE; Pseudomonas plecoglossicida; TCE; Waste scrap tyre; cis-DCE.
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