Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Mycoremediation of Synthetic Dyes:
An Insight into the Mechanism, Process
Optimization and Reactor Design
Prachi Kaushik and Anushree Malik
1 Introduction
Dye bearing industrial efuent can cause environmental problems unless it is
properly treated before disposal. The complex aromatic structure of the dyes is
resistant to light, biological activity, ozone and other degradative environmental
conditions. Thus, conventional wastewater treatment is less effective. There are
various methods for the treatment of wastewater (Forgacs et al.
2004
), which
broadly fall into three categories: physical (adsorption, coagulation/
occulation,
membrane
ltration etc.), chemical (chemical oxidation, photo-catalytic oxidation,
electrolysis,Fenton reagent etc.) and biological (biosorption, enzymatic degradation
etc.).Present treatment processes are largely based on the principles of
occulation
with lime and ferrous sulphate, adsorption on activated carbon, nano-
ltration,
reverse osmosis and solar evaporation (Ranganathan et al.
2007
). But owing to their
high maintenance cost, prerequisite for preliminary treatment steps and land
requirement, these are not economically viable for small enterprises and hence,
there is a need to look for suitable decentralized technologies.Being eco-friendly,
microbial decolorization (through bacteria, fungi and algae) is receiving much
attention for the treatment of textile dye waste water (Sarayu and Sandhya
2012
).
Considering the choice of microbes and the characteristics of textile ef
uent, fungi
can be considered as themost suitable organism for the remediation purpose. Owing to
their high cell-to-surface ratio, these organisms have a greater contact with the
environment. Also, the extra-cellular nature of fungal enzymes allows them to thrive
and tolerate high concentrations of toxicants. The fungi have a strong potential for
mycoremediation in non-sterile open environment (Fig.
1
). Themycelial growth gives
a competitive advantage over single cells, such as bacteria and yeasts, especially with
