Thermophilic biodegradation of phenol–catechol wastewater by a microbial consortium: kinetic modeling and sequencing batch reactor design

, achieving 95-98% substrate removal per cycle under thermophilic and alkaline conditions.Overall, this study demonstrates the direct integration of mixed-substrate biodegradation kinetics with reactor-scale process design, bridging laboratory-scale modelling and applied wastewater treatment engineering for high-strength phenolic effluents.