Styrene Degradation in a Polyurethane Biofilter Inoculated with Pseudomonas sp. IS-3

In a search for bacteria capable of degrading styrene better than previously isolated strains, bacterium IS-3 was isolated from activated sludge and found to be most closely related to Pseudomonas sp. Styrene degradation by this strain was tested in liquid cultures and polyurethane-packed biofilters. In liquid cultures, the rate of styrene degradation by this bacterium increased from 24.93 to $76.53\;{\mu}mol\;g^{-1}\;DCW\;H^{-1}$ for an initial mass range from 8.7 to $34.8{\mu}mol$. The maximum styrene elimination capacity was 580-635 $g/m^{3}\cdot$h at a space velocity (SV) of 50-200/h. The critical elimination capacities guaranteeing $95\%$ removal of the input styrene were determined to be 635, 170, and 38 $g/m^{3}\cdot$h, respectively, at SVs of 50, 100, and 200/h. Kinetic analysis revealed that the maximum styrene elimination velocity ($V_{m}$) for this biofilter was 1,000 g/m$\cdot$h, and the saturation constant ($K_{m}$) was 454 ppmv. Together, these results suggest that a polyurethane biofilter containing Pseudomonas sp. IS-3 could have potential practical applications for the effective removal of styrene gas.