Microfluidic technology for macro systems: Removal of textile dyes from wastewater in a microreactor

Wastewater from textile industry contains considerable amount of dissolved dye that can trigger environmental issues if is not treated properly. Numerous methods have been developed to degrade recalcitrant pollutants safely and utterly. Among them, enzymatic treatment of wastewater is gaining attention due to the enzyme’s specificity, easier manipulation, and generation of less toxic by-products. Still, the cost of enzymatic systems is the main limitation keeping the biocatalysts at lab-scale. Alternative solution for reducing the cost of enzymatic reaction systems is the use of microfluidic systems, which contribute to better mixing, process intensification and cleaner production. In this study, implementation of horseradish peroxidase for removal of the textile dye Acid Violet 109 is performed in a microfluidic reactor. The microreactor consists of three plunger pump units, two mixers and PTFE tube. The process parameters: residence time, dye, hydrogen peroxide, enzyme activity, the reactors’ diameter and length were optimized. Under the optimal process conditions: 30 mg/L dye concentration, 0.8 U/mL horseradish peroxidase activity, 0.1 mM hydrogen peroxide, 0.25 mm reactor's diameter, 97,3 % removal was achieved at residence time of 6 min. The results from this study show that enzymatic microfluidic reactors are a convenient technology for dye removal.