Gaseous Phenol Removal in a Bio-Trickling Filter

The performance of a bio-trickling filter( BTF) for treatment of phenol,a model pollutant,was presented. Influences of factors on phenol removal efficiency were studied. The BTF exhibited a high removal efficiency for phenol. The experimental results showed that the phenol efficiency reached 99. 5% and kept 98% in the long-term run. The optimal residence time,pH value and spray density were 20. 6 s,7. 0 and 1. 67 m3·( m2·h)- 1,respectively. The microbial community structures in the bio-trickling filter for phenol removal were assessed by PCR-DGGE. Based on the 16S rDNA sequence data,results showed that the predominant bacteria for degradation of phenol were Polaromonas sp.,Acinetobacter sp.,Acidovorax sp.,Veillonella parvula and Corynebacterium sp.. GC-MS was used to detect component of BTF's outlet gases and pyruvic acid( CH 3 COCOOH) was found as one kind of intermediates of phenol degradation. Then one possible biodegradation pathway of phenol was inferred.