Bioregeneration of cresol-loaded granular activated carbon using immobilized biomass: Effects of operational factors and chemical structure of cresol isomers

• Bioregeneration enhancement of cresol-loaded GAC using PU-immobilized biomass.
• Higher bioregeneration efficiency using cresol-saturated GAC.
• Bioregeneration efficiency enhancement with increased dry biomass density in beads.
• Bioregeneration of cresol-loaded GAC in the order of meta > para > ortho position.

The effects of initial cresol loading concentration, granular activated carbon (GAC) dosage, dry biomass density biomass immobilization matrix and chemical structure of cresol isomers on the bioregeneration efficiency of GAC loaded with o-, m- and p-cresol using polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) immobilized biomasses, respectively, were investigated. The results revealed higher bioregeneration efficiencies of cresol-loaded GAC when GAC was saturated with cresol. The dominating factor determining the bioregeneration efficiency was the distribution of cresol molecules within the micro-, meso- and macropores of GAC. Bioregeneration efficiency of cresol-loaded GAC could be enhanced by increasing the dry biomass density from 0.32 to 1.3 g/100 mL in PU-immobilized biomass beads. PU-immobilized biomass was found to yield higher bioregeneration efficiency than PVA-immobilized biomass. Among the cresol isomer-loaded GACs, bioregeneration efficiency of o-cresol-loaded GAC was the lowest due to more irreversibility of adsorbed o-cresol than m- and p-cresol.

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