초록
Phenol biodegradation is usually limited by a low treatment efficiency due to the microbial inhibition with intermediate accumulation. In this study, we report a two-step process to efficiently convert phenol to H<SUB>2</SUB>. In the first step, phenol was converted to benzoate by mixed anaerobic cultures in an acidogenic reactor; subsequently, the formed benzoate was further fermented to H<SUB>2</SUB> by Rhodopseudomonas palustris, an efficient photosynthetic bacterium. The individual steps were simulated by mathematical models. The modified Gompertz model was used to describe the H<SUB>2</SUB> production process from benzoate by R. palustris. The results show that the effluent from the acidogenic reactor treating phenol could be directly used by R. palustris for H<SUB>2</SUB> production. The maximum H<SUB>2</SUB> production rate was estimated to be 0.545 mL/h. The H<SUB>2</SUB> yield and light conversion efficiency were 0.58 and 2.08%, respectively. The results of this study suggest that such a two-step process can efficiently degrade aromatic compounds like phenol with concurrent H<SUB>2</SUB> production.