퀴놀린은 생물학적으로 거의 산화 분해되지 않았으나, 250$^{circ}C$ 습식산화에서 니코틴산과 초산 등으로 산화 분해되었다. 퀴놀린 습식산화는 균일촉매 $CuSO_4$ 또는 쉽게 습식산화 분해되는 페놀에 의해 반응조건이 완화되었다. 퀴놀린 습식산화 반응의 주 생성물 중 하나인 니코틴산은 호기성 Bacillus 종균에 의해 산화 분해되었다. 촉매를 사용하지 않은 고온에서의 퀴놀린 습식산화 생성물의 생물학적 산화는 저온에서 진행된 균일 촉매 ($CuSO_4$) 습식산화와 퀴놀린-페놀 혼합용액 습식산화 반응 생성물의 생물학적 산화에 비하여 늦게 진행되었다. 반면에, 호기성 균주의 습식산화 생성물에의 적응은 생물학적 처리에서의 니코틴산 산화 분해 반응의 지체기를 크게 단축시켰다.
The treatment of a model wastewater containing quinoline in an integrated wet oxidation-aerobic biological treatment was investigated. Partial wet oxidation under mild operating conditions was capable of converting the original quinoline to biodegradable organic acids such as nicotinic, formic and acetic acid, the solution of which was subjected to the subsequent aerobic biological treatment. The wet oxidation was carried out at 250$^{circ}C$ and the initial pH of 7.0, and led to effluents of which nicotinic acid was oxidized through 6-hydroxynicotinic acid by a Bacillus species in the subsequent aerobic biological treatment. Either homogeneous catalyst of $CuSO_4$ or phenol, which is more degradable in the wet oxidation compared to quinoline, was also used for increasing the oxidation rate in the wet oxidation of quinoline at 200$^{circ}C$. The oxidation of quinoline in the catalytic wet oxidation and the wet co-oxidation with phenol resulted in effluents of which nicotinic acid was biodegradable earlier in the aerobic biological treatment compared to those out of the non-catalytic wet oxidation at 250$^{circ}C$. However, the lag phase in the biodegradation of nicotinic acid formed out of the wet oxidation at 250$^{circ}C$ was considerably shortened after the adaptation of Bacillus species used in the aerobic biological treatment with the effluents of the quinoline wet oxidation.
