ABSTRACT
The aim of present paper was to study the biodegradation of 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene (TNT) in waste water using free cultures of a bacterial strain Acinetobacter noscomialis isolated from a TNT contaminated site. Three operating variables i.e. pH, initial TNT concentration and time for degradation were studied using response surface methodology (RSM), involving Box-Behnken design. Experiments were performed in the batch mode to determine maximum degradation of 2, 4, 6- trinitrotoluene (TNT). Very high regression coefficient between the variables and the response (R2 =0.9909) indicates excellent evaluation of experimental data by second-order polynomial regression model. Results indicated that 50–60 mg/L initial TNT concentration, 8-9 pH and a time period of 48-72 hrs were optimal for degradation of 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene by free cultures of Acinetobacter noscomialis and 99% of degradation was observed at optimal conditions. It was confirmed that the studied bacterial strain has a good potential for the degradation of 2,4,6- trinitrotoluene within a short time period of 72 Hrs.
