2,4-Dichlorophenol biodegradation in a two phase partitioning bioreactor (tppb) operated with commercial polymers as the partitioning phase

-The Two Phase Partitioning Bioreactors (TPPBs) were demonstrated to be an effective technology to face substrate toxicity. In this study the TPPB reactor was applied to the removal of a highly toxic compound, 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) (EC50=5-40 mg/L), found in many industrial effluents. A commercial polymer, Tone P787, was utilized as the sorption phase in the bioreactor. The choice was the result of a rational polymer screening test. It was observed that, for an influent concentration of 250 mg/L, in the conventional single phase reactor, the biomass was completely inhibited and DCP was not degraded. In contrast, the two phase system showed a removal efficiency of 97% with a reaction time of 500 min even at higher concentration in the feed up to 320mg/L.