Abstract—Biodegradation of industrial phenol by a fungal isolate Aspergillus niger was studied in batch flask system with synthetic & industrial effluent. Aspergillus niger, was efficiently immobilized on sodium alginate beads. The immobilized cells were used in the batch culture flasks for paper & pulp industry as well as synthetic effluent phenol removal. All the flasks were operated at temperature 25°C at 125 rpm for five days in continuous mode. The immobilized cells showed over all better performance as compared to free cells. The highest cell growth and the amount of phenol degraded were observed on 5 day. average overall pH, Temp., Conductivity, B.O.D, C.O.D, T.S, T.D.S, T.S.S, Chlorides and phenol were upto 7.5, 34.75°C, 39.6 μmohs/cm, 139.5 mg/l, 430.5 mg/l, 1490 mg/l, 900 mg/l, 590 mg/l, 281.25 mg/l and 268 mg/l respectively. While culture with immobilized cell reached 110 mg/L whereas in free cell it is 119 mg/L in industry effluent whereas in synthetic effluent culture with immobilized cell reach 28 mg/L whereas in free cell it is 150 mg/L with the same conditions. Reduction in phenol level proved the biodegradation. Results from this study showed that Aspergillus niger has potential to be used in biodegradation of wastewater containing phenol.
Index Terms—Aspergillus niger, batch culture,Biodegradation, immobilized cells, phenol.
Neha Sharma was with the Shobhit University, Meerut, India, She is now working with the Department of Applied Sciences in Delhi Institute of Engg.& Technology, Meerut (e-mail: nehasharma_bio@yahoo.co.in).
Vikas. C. Gupta is with Shobhit University, Meerut; India. He is working with the Department of Biotechnology (e-mail: viky18@gmail.com).
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Cite: Neha Sharma and Vikas. C. Gupta, "Batch Biodegradation of Phenol of Paper and Pulp Effluent by Aspergillus Niger," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 182-186, 2012.
