A MICROBIAL REGENERATION PROCESS FOR ANTIGRANULOCYTES ACTIVATED CARBON .2. REGENERATION STUDIES

The in situ biological regeneration of an activated carbon adsorber was investigated. Experimental results are given for a single-solute system containing phenol and a bisolute system containing phenol and p-cresol, both of which were regenerated using a mono-culture of Pseudomonas putida. The performance of an activated carbon adsorber that was bioregenerated up to six times was evaluated on the basis of the breakthough of phenolics during each intervening continuous-flow adsorption period. For both the regeneration and the loading cycles, predictions of system behaviour based on the bioregeneration model of Hutchinson and Robinsön (1990) agreed well with experimental observations. Carbon particle internal diffusional resistances were found to be rate limiting during most of the regeneration cycle. The breakthough performance of the bioregenerated carbon was found to deteriorate with each successive regeneration. Microbial fouling of the column during bioregeneration was found to produce a marked deterioration in the subsequent breakthrough performance of the bioregenerated activated carbon. © 1990.