Biodegradation of Tribromophenol in Activated Sludge System

The acclimated sludge was used to investigate the influence of initial TBP concentration,pH,temperature,additional carbon sources,heavy metal and chelant on the degradation of tribromophenol (TBP) in activated sludge system.The experimental results showed that degradation of TBP followed the zero-order reaction in the concentration range of 10-50 mg/L.The specific biosorption rate q_bd decreased with the increase of pH and pH 7.0-8.0 was in favor of biodegradation.Phenol and BPA as additional carbon sources inhibited the biodegradation of TBP.Both Cu²⁺ and Ni²⁺ also inhibited the biodegradation of TBP,while the inhibitory effect of Ni²⁺on biodegradation of TBP was stronger than that of Cu²⁺.Citric acid as chelant reduced the inhibitory effect of Cu²⁺ by reducing free Cu²⁺ in water phase.When n (Cu²⁺):n (Citric acid) was 1:4,the inhibition of Cu²⁺ was completely eliminated.