Mass transfer kinetics and mechanisms of polyethylene degradation mediated by bacterial-fungal consortium

Abstract

Understanding the degradation rate of polyethylene (PE) plastic mediated by bacterial-fungal consortium (BFC) is important to ensure an effective design process of bioremediation technology. This study aims to investigate the degradation behavior of PE plastic waste mediated by the BFC colonies using the modified mass transfer factor models to get better understanding on the kinetics and mechanisms of internal, external and global mass transfer. The performance of rectangular reactor (RR) to degrade PE plastic reaching 61.5% of the efficiency shows an increased efficiency of 55.9% stimulated by the presence of BFC strains in the breakdown of complex PE molecules during the process of bioremediation. Trend in the variation of [kLa]d value viewed almost the same with that of [kLa]g value is higher than that of [kLa]f value during 150 days of the experiment hence the rate-limiting step of PE plastic waste degraded depends on the resistance of external mass transfer. Analysis of degradation efficiency pursuant to both the factors of internal and external mass transfer during the 150-day experimental period provides a new insight on the role of BFC strains to increase the performance of RR process contributing to advance the future bioremediation process of PE plastic waste.