Investigation of biotic and abiotic removal processes of Bisphenol-A from wastewaters

Due to the adverse effects of Bisphenol-A (BPA) onto public health and ecological environment it becomes to be priority pollutant. In this study, removal of Bisphenol-A from wastewater by biotic and abiotic methods were investigated. The study was conducted in two main stages. In the first stage biotic removal of BPA by activated sludge biomass and pure Pseudomonas aeruginosa biomass were investigated. In the second stage the adsorption of BPA onto activated sludge biomass was investigated. In the studies effect of temperature, BPA and the biomass concentration on the removal of BPA were investigated. Experimental results showed that the main removal mechanism of BPA from wastewater was biodegradation and the effect of temperature, BPA and biomass concentrations were important for the removal of BPA. Using 3000 mg/L activated sludge biomass It was determined that 10 mg/L BPA completely removed at 20°C in 180 minutes. Using P. aeruginosa, 5 mg/L as a sole carbon source BPA was completely degradated at 15, 25 and 30 °C in 8, 6 and 4 days, respectively. It was also determined that using 30 mg/L BPA the degradation ratio was 76,6% in 11 days. At the second stage of the stduy, it was founded that activated sludge biomass removed BPA by adsorption at certain levels and adsorption capacity was 3,55 mg/g at 20 °C according to Langmuir isotherm. According to the statistical methods it was founded that the effect of temperature, BPA and biomass concentrations on biotic removal of BPA by activated sludge was significant with p<0,05 value. Key Words:Wastewaters, Bisphenol-A, Activated Sludge, Pseudomonas aeruginosa