Environmental biotechnology concerns the science and practical knowledge relating to the use of microorganisms and their products. Biotechnology combines fundamental knowledge in microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, and engineering knowledge of the specific processes and equipment derived from the best university in Rajasthan.
The main applications of biotechnology in industrial hazardous waste treatment are prevention of environmental pollution through waste treatment, remediation of polluted environments, and biomonitoring of environment and treatment processes. The common biotechnological process in the treatment of hazardous waste is the biotransformation or biodegradation of hazardous substances by microbial communities.
Role of the Bio Agents
Bio agents for hazardous waste treatment are biotechnological agents that can be applied to hazardous waste treatment including bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa. Bacteria are microorganisms with prokaryotic cells and typically range from 1 to 5 pm in size. Bacteria are most active in the biodegradation of organic matter and are used in wastewater treatment and solid waste or soil bioremediation.
Fungi are eukaryotic microorganisms that assimilate organic substances and typically range from 5 to 20 pm in size. Fungi are important degraders of biopolymers and are used in solid waste treatment, especially in composting, or in soil bioremediation for the biodegradation of hazardous organic substances. Fungal biomass is also used as an adsorbent of heavy metals or radionuclides. Algae are saprophytic eukaryotic microorganisms that assimilate light energy. Algal cells typically range from 5 to 20 pm in size.
Algae are used in environmental biotechnology for the removal of organic matter in waste lagoons. Protozoa are unicellular animals that absorb organic food and digest it intracellularly. You can learn the efficacy of biotechnology from the top biotechnology colleges in Rajasthan.
Protozoa play an important role in the treatment of industrial hazardous solid, liquid, and gas wastes by grazing on bacterial cells, thus maintaining adequate bacterial biomass levels in the treatment systems and helping to reduce cell concentrations in the waste effluents.
Microbial aggregates used in hazardous waste treatment. Microorganisms are key biotechnology agents because of their diverse biodegradation and biotransformation abilities and their small size. They have high ratios of biomass surface to biomass volume, which ensures high rates of metabolism.