1996 Volume 42 Issue 5 Pages 355-361
Phenols present in the wastewater discharged from many phenol based industries act as antimicrobial agents and hence biological treatment of phenol laden wastewater to a standard level prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency is difficult. In the present investigation, a biocatalyst was developed by immobilizing cells of a mutant strain of Pseudomonas pictorum (MU 174) onto rice bran-based activated carbon. Phenol in wastewater was observed to be degraded up to 3g/l under batch studies. A removal of 99.9% of phenol in domestic wastewater was achieved at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24h with a biocatalyst packed reactor under continuous flow studies. The biocatalyst had a reasonable shelf life after its preparation and had the desirable recycle capacity.