Microbial degradation of phenol in high-salinity solutions in suspensions and hollow fiber membrane contactors

A microporous polypropylene (PP) hollow fiber membrane contactor was used as a bioreactor to degrade phenol in aqueous solutions by Pseudomonas putida BCRC 14365 at 30 °C. The fibers were pre-wetted by ethanol to make them more hydrophilic. The initial cell density was fixed at 0.025 g l−1. The effects of added NaCl concentration (0–1.78 M) and pH (3–8) in substrate solution on the biodegradation were studied. The experimental results by suspended cells were discussed. It was shown that the cells in microporous hollow fibers were unable to tolerate substrate solution pH to a larger range than those in suspensions. The suspended cells grew well on 100 mg l−1 of phenol only at NaCl concentrations below 0.44 M. However, the cells in microporous hollow fibers could completely degrade 500 mg l−1 of phenol in solutions containing NaCl concentration up to 1.52 M, which was due to the enhanced tolerance limit to salinity effect by the membrane-attached biofilms and the sufficiently slow mass transfer of NaCl through the membrane pores.