Kinetics of Cometabolic Transformation of 4-chlorophenol and Phenol Degradation by Pseudomonas putida Cells in Batch and Biofilm Reactors

Abstract

The biodegradation kinetics of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) and phenol and microbial growth of Pseudomonas putida (P. putida) cells were estimated in batch and biofilm reactors. The kinetic parameters of cells on phenol were determined using the Haldane formula. The maximum specific growth rate of P. putida on phenol, the half-saturation constant of phenol and the self-inhibition constant of phenol were 0.512 h−1, 78.38 mg/L and 228.5 mg/L, respectively. The yield growth of cells on phenol (YP) was 0.618 mg phenol/mg cell. The batch experimental results for the specific transformation rate of 4-CP by resting P. putida cells were fitted with Haldane kinetics to evaluate the maximum specific utilization rate of 4-CP, half-saturation constant of 4-CP, and self-inhibition constant of 4-CP, which were 0.246 h−1, 1.048 mg/L and 53.40 mg/L, respectively. The negative specific growth rates of cells on 4-CP obtained were fitted using a kinetic equation to investigate the true transformation capacity and first-order endogenous decay coefficient, which were 4.34 mg 4-CP/mg cell and 5.99 × 10−3 h−1, respectively. The competitive inhibition coefficients of phenol to 4-CP transformation and 4-CP to phenol degradation were 6.75 and 9.27 mg/L, respectively; therefore, phenol had a higher competitive inhibition of 4-CP transformation than the converse. The predicted model examining cometabolic transformation of 4-CP and phenol degradation showed good agreement with the experimental observations. The removal efficiencies for phenol and 4-CP were 94.56–98.45% and 96.09–98.85%, respectively, for steady-state performance.