Immobilized mutant strain of Pseudomonas pictorum for the degradation of phenol in wastewater

Phenols present in the wastewater discharged from many phenol based industries act as antimicrobial agents and hence biological treatment of phenol laden wastewater to a standard level prescribed by the Environmental Protection Agency is difficult. In the present investigation, a biocatalyst was developed by immobilizing cells of a mutant strain of Pseudomonas pictorum (MU 174) onto rice bran-based activated carbon. Phenol in wastewater was observed to be degraded up to 3 g/l under batch studies. A removal of 99.9% of phenol in domestic wastewater was achieved at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 h with a biocatalyst packed reactor under continuous flow studies. The biocatalyst had a reasonable shelf life after its preparation and had the desirable recycle capacity.