Airlift two-phase partitioning bioreactor for dichloromethane removal: Silicone rubber stimulated biodegradation and its auto-circulation

Hao-Yang Liu; Yang Yu; Ning-Ning Yu; Yun-Feng Ding; Jian-Meng Chen; Dong-Zhi Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115610

Airlift two-phase partitioning bioreactor for dichloromethane removal: Silicone rubber stimulated biodegradation and its auto-circulation

J Environ Manage. 2022 Oct 1:319:115610. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115610. Epub 2022 Jul 4.

Authors

Hao-Yang Liu¹, Yang Yu², Ning-Ning Yu³, Yun-Feng Ding³, Jian-Meng Chen⁴, Dong-Zhi Chen⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China.
² School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Control, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Harbor Oil & Gas Storage and Transportation Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, 316022, China. Electronic address: yuyang@zjou.edu.cn.
³ College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China.
⁴ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Control, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Harbor Oil & Gas Storage and Transportation Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, 316022, China.
⁵ School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310032, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Petrochemical Pollution Control, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316004, China; National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Harbor Oil & Gas Storage and Transportation Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering and Environment, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, 316022, China. Electronic address: cdz@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 35797907
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115610

Abstract

Solid non-aqueous phases (NAPs), such as silicone rubber, have been used extensively to improve the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, the removal of VOCs is difficult to be further improved because the poor understanding of the mass transfer and reaction processes. Further, the conventional reactors were either complicated or uneconomical. In view of this, herein, an airlift bioreactor with silicone rubber was designed and investigated for dichloromethane (DCM) treatment. The removal efficiency of Reactor 1 (with silicone rubber) was significantly higher than that of Reactor 2 (without silicone rubber), with corresponding higher chloride ion and CO₂ production. It was found that Reactor 1 achieved a much better DCM shock tolerance capability and biomass stability than Reactor 2. Silicone rubber not only enhanced the mass transfer in terms of both gas/liquid and gas/microbial phases, but also decreased the toxicity of DCM to microorganisms. Noteworthily, despite the identical inoculum used, the relative abundance of potential DCM-degrading bacteria in Reactor 1 (91.2%) was much higher than that in Reactor 2 (24.3%) at 216 h. Additionally, the silicone rubber could be automatically circulated in the airlift bioreactor due to the driven effect of the airflow, resulting in a significant reduction of energy consumption.

Keywords: Airlift bioreactor; Cell surface hydrophobicity; Dichloromethane; Microbial community stability; Silicone rubber.

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Biomass
Bioreactors
Methylene Chloride*
Silicone Elastomers*

Substances

Silicone Elastomers
Methylene Chloride