Characterization of cometabolic degradation of p-cresol with phenol as growth substrate by Chlorella vulgaris

Abstract To investigate the potential application of Chlorella vulgaris in the treatment of coal gasification wastewater, the characteristics of phenol and p -cresol cometabolism by Chlorella vulgaris were studied, including phenol degradation, ammonia nitrogen removal, antioxidant enzyme activities, and phenol hydroxylase activity. The results showed that the highest tolerable concentrations of phenol and p -cresol for Chlorella vulgaris were 800 and 400 mg/L, respectively. During cometabolism, phenol at low concentrations (100 mg/L) significantly promoted the degradation of p -cresol. Meanwhile, the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen was approximately 60% and was not affected by variations in phenol concentration. Furthermore, the cometabolism of phenol and p -cresol was enhanced by improvement of phenol hydroxylase activity of Chlorella vulgaris after the addition of NaHCO 3 as an exogenous nutrient. Therefore, Chlorella vulgaris has a great potential for the biochemical treatment of coal gasification wastewater.