Treatment of a high-strength, mixed phenolic waste in an SBR

Biological degradation of a synthetic mixture of several phenolic compounds typically found in coal conversion wastes was investigated in the sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The mixture contained phenol; o-, m-, and p-cresols; and 2,3- and 3,4-dimethylphenols and had a total chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration of 7750 mg/L. A variety of aerobic and anoxic control strategies were tested