The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	The use of pure cultures as a means of understanding the performance of a mixed culture in the biodegradation of phenol
Author:	Varuntanya, Chirasakdi
View Online:	njit-etd1986-024 ([vii], 341 pages ~ 7.0 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Degree:	Doctor of Engineering Science
Program:	Chemical Engineering
Document Type:	Dissertation
Advisory Committee:	Lewandowski, Gordon (Committee chair) Baltzis, Basil (Committee member) Bozzelli, Joseph W. (Committee member) Petroulas, Theodore (Committee member) Liskowitz, John W. (Committee member)
Date:	1986
Keywords:	Phenols--Biodegradation.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	In an effort to gain a more fundamental understanding of the performance of mixed microbial cultures in the biodegradation of toxic organic chemicals, studies have been conducted using three phenol degrading species isolated from a municipal treatment plant. The rate of phenol degradation was investigated for each of the three pure phenol degrading species, and various combinations of the three species. A simple competitive model was used to predict the behavior of the mixed cultures by using the pure culture Monod rate constants. The model fit the growth data for total biomass very well, although (as with the pure culture experiments) the fit of the phenol degradation data was less accurate.