S. Guha et Pr. Jaffe, DETERMINATION OF MONOD KINETIC COEFFICIENTS FOR VOLATILE HYDROPHOBIC ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS, Biotechnology and bioengineering, 50(6), 1996, pp. 693-699
A new procedure is presented to determine Monod kinetic coefficients a
nd the microbial yield coefficient for volatile hydrophobic compounds
such as phenanthrene. Batch experiments were conducted with a mixed cu
lture capable of degrading phenanthrene. The phenanthrene disappearanc
e and carbon dioxide production were monitored with time. A maximum li
kelihood estimator was formulated to fit the set of equations that des
cribe the system to the measured data. The model takes into account a
number of processes such as partition onto the apparatus, volatilizati
on, and partition onto the biomass. The parameters required to describ
e these processes were obtained by independent experiments. The yield
coefficient could be determined within a small range. However, the spe
cific growth Fate and the half-saturation constant were found to vary
widely, with pairs of them describing the system adequately. It was sh
own that partition and volatilization processes can significantly affe
ct the determination of the yield and Monod kinetic coefficients and n
eed to be taken into account. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.