Nitrobenzene Removal in Biological Activated Carbon Filter by Immobilized Dominant Bacteria

A dominant bacteria for nitrobenzene removal was isolated from Songhua River and identified as Bacillus-subtilis. Experiments have been carried out to investigate the performance of a biological activated carbon(BAC) using this dominant bacteria immobilized on carbon media in treating nitrobenzene. The results show that dominant bacteria were capable of removing the nitrobenzene completely even with high concentrations of nitrobenzene in raw water and the nitrobenzene concentration in BAC effluent was all not detected after the stabilization of the filter operation. The bacteria on BAC filter were ready for use after 20 days of start-up period. The stabilization of the biomass on BAC filter was achieved after 90 days operation. The toxicity test checked by Deltatox Analyzer indicated that most of the nitrobenzene was removed by the top and middle layer of the filters.