Microbial solvent regeneration in biotreatment of air contaminated by styrene

Abstract

[Abstract] In this study, the biodegradation of a styrene-polluted waste gas in a reactor containing 5 L of a biphasic mixture (10:90% v/v) of organic solvent (silicone oil) – water – biomass was investigated to establish the ability of a microbial solvent regeneration. Reproducible microbial solvent regenerations have been observed. The regeneration time, which increases with the increase of the styrene load (varying from 543 to 1800 mg), leads to elimination capacity up to 48 gstyrene.m-3 mixture.h-1. The solvent regeneration requires roughly 1.2 molecule of oxygen per molecule of styrene and corresponds to the first steps of the biodegradation of the styrene.