Microbial growth on and utilization of environmental contaminants as
substrates have been studied by many researchers. Most times, substrate
utilization results in removal of chemical contaminant, increase in
microbial biomass and subsequent biodegradation of the contaminant.
These are all aimed at detoxification of the environmental pollutants.
Several microbial growth and biodegradation kinetic models have been
developed, proposed and used in bioremediation schemes. Some of these
models include Monod's, Andrews, Bungay's weighted model, general
substrate inhibition models (GSIM) and sum kinetic models. Most
research on microbial potentials to degrade chemical pollutants has
been performed on a laboratory scale. There is a need to extend such
studies to pilot scale as well as to fullscale field applications