Abstract
A comparative study of the performance of solid and liquid non‐aqueous phases (NAPs) to enhance the mass transfer and biodegradation of hexane by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in two‐phase partitioning bioreactors (TPPBs) was undertaken. A preliminary NAP screening was thus carried out among the most common solid and liquid NAPs used in pollutant biodegradation. The polymer Kraton G1657 (solid) and the liquid silicone oils SO20 and SO200 were selected from this screening based on their biocompatibility, resistance to microbial attack, non‐volatility and high affinity for hexane (low partition coefficient: K = C~g~/C~NAP~, where C~g~ and C~NAP~ represent the pollutant concentration in the gas phase and NAP, respectively). Despite the three NAPs exhibited a similar affinity for hexane (K ≈ 0.0058), SO200 and SO20 showed a superior performance to Kraton G1657 in terms of hexane mass transfer and biodegradation enhancement. The enhanced performance of SO200 and SO20 could be explained by both the low interfacial area of this solid polymer (as a result of the large size of commercial beads) and by the interference of water on hexane transfer (observed in this work). When Kraton G1657 (20%) was tested in a TPPB inoculated with P. aeruginosa, steady state elimination capacities (ECs) of 5.6 ± 0.6 g m^−3^ h^−1^ were achieved. These values were similar to those obtained in the absence of a NAP but lower compared to the ECs recorded in the presence of 20% of SO200 (10.6 ± 0.9 g m^−3^ h^−1^). Finally, this study showed that the enhancement in the transfer of hexane supported by SO200 was attenuated by limitations in microbial activity, as shown by the fact that the ECs in biotic systems were far lower than the maximum hexane transfer capacity recorded under abiotic conditions. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010;106: 731–740. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.