Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Industry is essential to Canada's economic growth. These industries include: petroleum refineries; pulp and paper mills; pharmaceutical producers; cosmetic, dye and resin manufacturing plants, etc. These are all very important industries for Canada's economy. However, many produce liquid wastes that contain toxic contaminants that are also listed as priority pollutants. Many of these pollutants include: phenols, benzene, toluene, and other aromatic compounds. At high concentrations these chemicals can be harmful to various ecosystems, thus polluted waste water must be treated before discharging into the environment. Engineers have devised many techniques, such as: adsorption, chemical precipitation, biological treatment, etc. for removing such compounds, but most of these techniques have limited efficiency and/or are costly. The applicant and his research group have developed a technology for removing compounds such as: phenolics and other aromatic compounds including Bisphenol A (BPA)) from waste water in the laboratory by using enzymes which catalyze these toxic compounds, under certain conditions, and polymerize (produces solids of various sizes) them. These solids can then be removed using a coagulation-flocculation process. This method is a simpler, more environmentally friendly alternative to current conventional processes. However, other aromatics such as benzene, toluene, etc., do not respond to the enzymatic treatment in its parent state. So, attempts are being made to transform them to phenolics (through Fenton reaction) before subjecting them to the enzymatic treatment. Costs for enzymatic treatment are influenced heavily by the cost of the enzymes. Fortunately, soyabean peroxidase (SBP), a by-product and an extremely cost-effective enzyme, has shown tremendous potential. The proposed technology will be extended to treat real wastewater from refineries. Therefore, it has the potential to be successful in removing these toxic compounds and to be commercialized thereby benefiting Canada's industries and environment.