Bioremediation of Iron-Laden Steel Plant Effluent Using Bacillus Licheniformis: A Study of Isolation, Characterization, and Optimization

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigates the physicochemical characteristics and bioremediation potential of Bacillus licheniformis on effluent from a steel manufacturing facility in Salem, India Method: A laboratory-based experimental approach was used in the study to assess Bacillus licheniformis's capacity for bioremediation of steel production wastewater. Separating the bacteria from the wastewater, describing its physicochemical characteristics, and evaluating how well it reduced iron levels were the steps in the process. For chemical analysis, FTIR spectroscopy was employed, and for microbiological identification, normal biochemical assays were employed. Optimizing bioremediation parameters including inoculum concentration, pH, temperature, and incubation duration was one of the procedures. Results and Discussion: The study discovered that Bacillus licheniformis successfully decreased iron concentrations in steel production wastewater, bringing them down from 41.54 mg/L to 23.08 mg/L. Significant alterations in the effluent's chemical composition were shown by FTIR analysis, suggesting that organic contaminants had been successfully degraded. The greatest results were obtained after optimizing the bioremediation settings, which included a 48-hour incubation at 30°C, pH 6, and a 6% inoculum concentration. These results contribute to more sustainable effluent management techniques by highlighting Bacillus licheniformis as a viable bioremediation agent for treating iron-laden industrial wastewater. Research Implications: The research's practical implications indicate that Bacillus licheniformis can be used to clean wastewater that contains iron, especially in the steel sector, using bioremediation techniques. The results might encourage ecologically friendly methods of treating industrial effluent and have an impact on sustainable wastewater management practices. Theoretically, this work advances our knowledge of the role that microbes play in environmental biotechnology, namely in the reduction of metals and the breakdown of organic contaminants. Environmental engineering, industrial wastewater treatment, and microbial bioremediation research are among the fields that potentially profit from these discoveries.