Modelling phenanthrene biodegradation and mineralisation in polluted soil using toluene as gaseous cosubstrate

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Mathematical models describing the physical, chemical and biological processes that take place in bioremediation are necessary to design and optimise these technologies. This work models the effect of toluene as a gaseous cosubstrate in the degradation of phenanthrene in soil, considering the consumption of pollutants, the production of intermediate degradation compounds and mineralisation. The proposed model consists of a set of sequential reactions to convert phenanthrene to carbon dioxide and biomass with the production and consumption of phthalic acid, which is the main intermediate metabolite.