Creating anoxic and microaerobic conditions in sequencing batch reactors treating volatile BTX compounds

An experimental strategy is introduced for studying the biodegradation of wastewaters containing volatile contaminants using an alternating anoxic/microaerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR). Benzene, toluene, and the xylene isomers (BTX) served as model volatile contaminants for this study. The reactor was configured to overcome stripping the volatile BTX compounds into the atmosphere to provide opportunities for BTX biodegradation. Oxygen-free anoxic and microaerobic (< 0.2 mg/L dissolved oxygen) conditions were established using a novel laboratory reactor configuration. ORP was successfully used to monitor different electron acceptor conditions in the SBR. Toluene and m-xylene were amenable to anoxic (denitrifying) metabolism while benzene, o-, and p-xylene were biodegradable under microaerobic conditions. The results demonstrate that establishing microaerobic conditions in full-scale bioreactors may be an appropriate way to encourage the biodegradation of aerobically biodegradable volatile contaminants. Additionally, the laboratory reactor configuration introduced in this paper may be useful in subsequent studies involving microaerobic metabolism.