Journal of Environmental Biology

Comparative evaluation of cyanide removal by adsorption, biodegradation, and simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation (SAB) process using Bacillus cereus and almond shell

Naveen Dwivedi^{1, 2}*, Chandrajit Balomajumder³ and Prasenjit Mondal³

 ¹Department of Biotechnology, S.D. College of Engineering and Technology, Muzaffarnagar-251 001, India

²Faculty of Biotechnology, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun- 248 007, India

³Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee-247 667, India

*Corresponding Author E-mail: naveen.dwivedi@rediffmail.com

Publication Data

Paper received:

29 April 2015

Revised received:

05 October 2015

Re-revised received:

04 December 2015

Accepted:

15 January 2016

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the removal efficiency of cyanide from contaminated water by adsorption, biodegradation and simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation (SAB) process individually in a batch reactor. Adsorption was achieved by using almond shell granules and biodegradation was conducted with suspended cultures of Bacillus cereus, whereas SAB process was carried out using Bacillus cereus and almond shell in a batch reactor. The effect of agitation time, pH, and initial cyanide concentration on the % removal of cyanide has been discussed. Under experimental conditions, optimum removal was obtained at pH 7 with agitation time of 48 hrs and temperature of 35 ?C. Cyanide was utilized by bacteria as sole source of nitrogen for growth. The removal efficiencies of cyanide by adsorption, biodegradation, and SAB were found to be 91.38%, 95.87%, and 99.63%, respectively, at initial cyanide concentration of 100 mg l^-1. The removal efficiency of SAB was found to be better as compared to that of biodegradation and adsorption alone.       

 Key words

Almond shell, Bacillus cereus, Biodegradation, Cyanide, Cyanidase, SAB process

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