The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of aeration rate ranging from zero to 1.5 vvm on the growth rate and biodesulfurization activity of Rhodococcus erthropolis IGTS8. The results showed that growth rate was not strongly dependant on aeration rate in aerated experiments, it was significantly lower in the non-aerated experiment, though. The growth was significantly higher throughout the time course of the experiment at o.2 vvm when compared with that of non-aerated experiment, whereas a slight decrease was observed for further increase in the aeration. Thus, increasing the aeration rate beyond an optimum value would not lead to higher growth rates. Although the final concentrations of 2-HBP were approximately identical (c.a. 10 ppm) for zero and 0.2 vvm, the peak appeared earlier at 0.2 vvm. Moreover, increasing the aeration rate more than 0.2 vvm was not beneficial to biodesulfurization activity.

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