Two-tank suspended growth process for accelerating the detoxification kinetics of hydrocarbons requiring initial monooxygenation reactions

An experimental evaluation demonstrated that suspended growth systems operated in a two-tank accelerator/aerator configuration significantly increased the overall removal rates for phenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), aromatic hydrocarbons that require initial monooxygenations. The accelerator tank is a small volume that receives the influent and recycled biomass. It has a high ratio of electron donor (BOD) to electron acceptor (02). Biomass in the accelerator should be enriched in reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH + H⁺) and have a very high specific growth rate, conditions that should accelerate the kinetics of monooxygenation reactions. For the more slowly degraded 2,4-DCP, the average percentage removal increased from 74% to 93%, even though the volume of the two-tank system was smaller than that of the one-tank system in most experiments. The average volumetric and biomass-specific removal rates increased by 50% and 100%, respectively, in the two-tank system, compared to a one-tank system. The greatest enhancement in 2,4-DCP removal occurred when the accelerator tank comprised approximately 20% of the system volume. Biomass in the accelerator tank was significantly enriched in NADH + H⁺ when its dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration was below 0.25 mg/L, a situation having a high ratio of donor to acceptor. The accelerator biomass had its highest NADH + H⁺ content for the experiments that had the highest rate of 2,4-DCP removal. Biomass in the accelerator also had a much higher specific growth rate than in the aerator or the system overall, and the specific growth rate in the accelerator was inversely correlated to the accelerator volume.