ISSN(Online): 2319 - 8753 ISSN (Print) :2347 - 6710 International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology (An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization) Vol. 4, Issue 2, February 2015 Copyright to IJIRSET DOI: 10.15680/IJIRSET.2015.0402074 355 Bioremediation of Melanoidin Containing Industrial Effluent – A Qualitative Laboratory Scale Study on ‘Modified’ Soil K. K. Bandyopadhyay 1 , Debarati Paul 2 * Professor, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, U.P. Noida, India 1 Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, U.P. Noida, India 2 ABSTRACT: Qualitative studies of colour removal of distillery effluent were carried out continuously in packed bed reactor to screen out the suitable combination of modified soil. The continuous reactor (voidage: 0.39-0.4, packed density: around 1) studies enable to remove colour and COD degradation of effluent (COD 22000-23000 mg/l) to the tune of 97-99% respectively for the period of more than 10 days. Formulation of modified soil, kinetic data, voidage, space velocity etc are important parameters in assessing the efficiently of the reactor performance. KEYWORDS: Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Capillary Seepage System, Immobilized Cells, Lignocellulosic Derivative (LCD), Melanoidin I. INTRODUCTION Molasses based distilleries are listed in the “Red category” industries as per the Ministry of Environment of Forests (MOEF) due to their high polluting potential [1]. They discharge huge volume of wastewater at the rate 8 – 15 lit of rectified spirit. The main problem in treating distillery effluent is its colour, which contains nearly 2% (w/w) of dark brown recalcitrant pigment, melanoidin and is highly resistant to microbial degradation and other biological treatments [2]. These compounds are also toxic to the existing microbial population in soil or water. The other associated problems are high Biological Oxygen Demand (B.O.D), Chemical Oxygen Demand (C.O.D), low pH and toxic substances such as phenols [3]. In 2003, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the national agency responsible for environmental compliance, stipulated that distilleries should achieve zero discharge inland surface water courses by the end of 2005. Bioremediation of melanoidin containing waste water with white – rot fungi and their lignin degrading enzymes have been reported [4]. These ligninolytic enzymes are non - specific in their substrate requirement. The extremely wide range of degradative activity is dependent on the lignin – degrading enzymes, lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, laccase and H 2 O 2 producing enzymes [5]. The proposed method involves a combination of physical and biological methods for adsorption on “modified soil” and simultaneous biodegradation of melanoidin by immobilized cells. This technique is novel to the best of our knowledge and can be extended to the field to the benefits of farmers. Objective of current study is to evolve a packed bed immobilized cell (in modified soil) reactor system to understand its impact on decolourisation and COD removal II RELATED WORK Bacterial systems have also been reported to decolourize and reduce C.O.D of the distillery spentwash [2, 6]. Physical methods of treatment involve adsorption through activated carbon or organic resin, however, high costs are involved. Biosorption, via live or dead microorganism of algae, yeast, bacteria and fungi has been used for this purpose [7-10]. The process of biosorption is reported to be governed by the type of melanoidin lipids, [11], pH and hydrophilicity [12]. Sonication is another physical method performed as a pre-oxidation step before biological treatment for increasing