Control of phenol in biological reactors by addition of powdered activated carbon

A biological reactor containing a pure culture of E. coli was subjected to a variety of feed upsets involving phenol with powdered activated carbon applied as a control mechanism. The amount and rate of addition of the carbon was varied to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy for maintaining the effluent quality. It was found that the carbon addition greatly reduced the magnitude of concentration transients and permitted operation with an input phenol concentration above 1000 mg 1⁻¹.