2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) photobiodegradation and its effect on community structure.

The mechanisms occurring in a photolytic circulating-bed biofilm reactor (PCBBR) treating 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) were investigated using batch experiments following three protocols: photodegradation alone (P), biodegradation alone (B), and intimately coupled photodegradation and biodegradation (P&B). Initially, the ceramic particles used as biofilm carriers rapidly adsorbed TCP, particularly in the B experiments. During the first 10 min, the TCP removal rate for P&B was equal to the sum of the rates for P and B, and P&B continued to have the greatest TCP removal, with the TCP concentration approaching zero only in the P&B experiments.

Photobiodegradation of phenol with ultraviolet irradiation of new ceramic biofilm carriers.

Activated sludge acclimated to biodegrade phenol was allowed to attach on and in light porous ceramic carriers and to function as a biofilm in a photolytic circulating-bed bioreactor (PCBBR). Phenol degradation in the PCBBR was investigated following three protocols: photolysis with ultraviolet light alone (P), biodegradation alone (B), and the two mechanisms operating simultaneously (P/B). Phenol was degraded at approximately equal rates by B and P/B, each of which was much faster than the rate by P.