Biological decolorization of C.I. basic green 4 solution by chlorella sp. Effect of operational parameters

In recent years, the ability of microorganisms to decolorize textile wastewater has received great attention due to the environmental persistence and toxicity of these pollutants. In this paper biological decolorization of triphenylmethane dye, c.i. Basic green 4 (bg 4), by chlorella species was investigated. The effect of operational parameters (temperature, ph, initial dye concentration and algal concentration) on decolorization efficiency was examined. Results indicated that the desired initial ph was 9. The stability and efficiency of the algae in long-term repetitive operations were also examined. Michaelis-menten kinetics was employed to describe the apparent correlation between the decolorization rate and dye concentration. The optimal kinetic parameters, v_max (specific decolorization rate) and k_m (maximum specific decolorization rate) were 4.6 mg dye g cell^-1 h^-1 and 151.0 mg l^-1, respectively.