Immobilization of biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa NY3 and their application in the removal of hydrocarbons from highly concentrated oil-containing wastewater on the laboratory scale

•As high as 488.32 mg dry Pseudomonas aeruginosa NY3/g dry PUF has been immobilized.•Running at 12 h HRT for 40d, oil removal rate of 2 g/l oil samples was stable at 90%.•The used biofilms could be recovered for reuse within 15 days.

To explore the potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa NY3 for the treatment of highly concentrated crude oil-contaminated water, the immobilization of strain NY3 on the surface of polyurethane foam (PUF), the conditions for using these biofilms and the possibility of recovering the used biofilms were studied. The results demonstrated that the biofilm formation process for strain NY3 was quick and easy. Under optimum conditions, the biomass immobilized on the PUF surface could reach 488.32 mg dry cell/g dry PUF. The results demonstrated that when the degradation time was 12 h, the average oil removal rate in 2 g crude oil/L contaminated water was approximately 90% for 40d. Meanwhile, the biofilms could be recovered for reuse. The recovery ability and the high and steady oil removal rate facilitated the application of the biofilms for the removal of concentrated oil from wastewater.