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Abstract
The encouragement of microbial activity in activated carbon operations used for water and waste treatment has attracted interest as a potential means for enhancing overall system performance. Microorganisms have been found to have both positive and negative effects on adsorption processes; the most common positive effect is increased throughput before regeneration is required, while common negative effects include potential interference with the adsorption of specifically targeted compounds and the possibility of release of pathogenic organisms to progress effluents. There have been a number of reports in the literature, including several by Dr. Tien and his co-workers, which have involved either experimental or numerical modeling studies of phenomena associated with biologically active carbon adsorption systems. This paper reviews progress to date on elucidation of various mechanisms extant in such systems, and suggests areas for future research on the topic.