Modeling Study of Crude Oil Enhanced Removal in a Two-Liquid Phase Partitioning Bioreactor
Abstract A combined process of solvent extraction and two-phase biodegradation was carried out to remove crude oil from water by mixed cultures, where silicone oil was selected as the organic solvent due to its biocompatibility and non-biodegradability. The crude oil removal and cell growth was experimentally studied. A simple model that combined steady mass transfer equations and dynamic growth kinetics of suspended cells was suggested to follow the entire process. Under the conditions studied, complete removal of crude oil from water was achieved at initial crude oil concentration of 5,000 mg/L. Results revealed that the proposed model satisfactorily described the process as long as crude oil level in the cell medium did not exceed the toxicity limit of suspended cells.