Iranian Journal of

Background and Objectives: Effluent generated in several industries contains phenolic compounds, which have been classified as priority pollutants. Due to its toxicity, the conventional systems are inefficient for treatment of phenol-Laden wastewater. Biological processes using pure microbial culture, including fungi and yeast, are environmentally friendly techniques capable of complete destruction of contaminants.
Materials and Methods: This work was aimed at investigating the efficiency of a fungi specie in the decomposition of high concentrations of phenol ranging from 500 to 20000 mg/L. Several batch reactors were operated at different phenol concentration. The concentration of residual phenol was monitored over time using colorimetric method 4-aminoantipyrine. The removal efficiency was calculated considering the initial phenol concentration.
Results: Experimental data indicated that the phenol could efficiently degrade using the selected culture. The developed granules could completely degrade phenol at concentrations up to 20000 mg/L.
Conclusion: It can be concluded from the experimental data that the biodegradation using the Fungi granules is a very efficient and thus promising technique for treatment of wastewaters containing phenolic compounds.