Eco. Env. & Cons. 24 (3) : 2018; pp.

(1355-1361)
Copyright@ EM International
ISSN 0971–765X

Kinetic modeling of growth on biodegradation of

Naphthalene using Rhodococcus sp.
J. Jegan1, T. Bhagavathi Pushpa2, S. Praveen3* and B. Nithyalakshmi44

1,2
Department of Civil Engineering, Anna University, University College of Engineering,
Ramanathapuram 623 513, Tamil Nadu, India
3
Department of Civil Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore 641 407, Tamil Nadu, India
4
Department of Civil Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology,
Coimbatore 641 014, T.N., India

(Received 8 January, 2018; accepted 10 March, 2018)

ABSTRACT
The naphthalene biodegradation by Rhodococcus sp. isolated from the tannery industry effluent was studied.
The influence of various operational parameters like pH, glucose concentration and inoculum concentrations
on the growth and naphthalene degradation potential of the species were investigated. The naphthalene
degradation and microbial growth was higher at optimum pH (pH7), glucose concentration (500 mg/L)
and inoculum concentration (3%). The non-ionic surfactants were used in very high concentrations of
naphthalene (1000–5000 mg/L) to investigate the maximum naphthalene tolerance potential of Rhodococcus
sp. The surfactants used are Triton X-100 and Tween-80. These surfactants enhanced the availability of
naphthalene to the microbes. The naphthalene was degraded by Rhodococcus sp. upto the initial concentration
of 4000 mg/L without microbial inhibition. Beyond that when the naphthalene concentration increases, the
degradation potential of the microbes decreases. The inhibition characteristics of substrate was described
using four kinetics models (Haldane, Webb, Edward and Aiba). These kinetics models fitted very well and
it describes the dynamic behavior of naphthalene biodegradation by Rhodococcus sp.

Key words : Naphthalene, Degradation, Growth kinetics, Rhodococcus sp., Isotherm

Introduction PAHs to human may occur from activities such as

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are pol-
lutants of great environmental concern because of
their toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic properties.
The biodegradation of PAHs, particularly those of
low molecular weight, has been widely investi-
gated. It has been shown that PAHs can be totally
degraded or partially transformed either by a com-
munity of micro organisms or by a single microor-
ganism (Cerniglia, 1992; Mueller et al., 1996;
Pothuluri and Cerniglia, 1998). The exposure of
*Corresponding author’s email: praveensarvan@gmail.com
(1Associate Professor, 2Assistant Professor, 3Assistant Professor, 4Research Scholar)
petroleum refining, coke and aluminum production,
coal combustion, and wood preservation (Heitkamp
et al., 1987). PAHs have high bio-accumulation po-
tentials (Park et al., 1990). The production and usage
of PAHs in mass quantities making it impossible to
predict the extent of damage to the environment
(Dzombak and Luthy, 1984).
The PAHs contaminated groundwater is difficult
to remediate because these compounds are volatile
and can diffuse rapidly once introduced into an
aquifer. Various techniques for in situ