Performance of inverse fluidized bed bioreactor in treating starch wastewater

Abstract

Aerobic digestion of starch industry wastewater was carried out in an inverse fluidized bed bioreactor using low-density (870 kg/m³) polypropylene particles. Experiments were carried out at different initial substrate concentrations of 2250, 4475, 6730, and 8910 mg COD/L and for various hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 40, 32, 24, 16, and 8 h. Degradation of organic matter was studied at different organic loading rates (OLR) by varying the HRT and the initial substrate concentration. From the results it was observed that the maximum COD removal of 95.6% occurred at an OLR of 1.35 kg COD/(m³·d) and the minimum of 51.8% at an OLR of 26.73 kg COD/(m³·d). The properties of biomass accumulation on the surface of particles were also studied. It was observed that constant biomass loading was achieved over the entire period of operation.

Keywords

inverse fluidization / low-density particles / polypropylene / starch / biofilm

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude for the support extended by the authorities of Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, India in carrying out the research work in Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering.

Nomenclature

A	surface area of particles, m2
σ	biofilm thickness, m
db	diameter of the bioparticle, m
dp	diameter of the particle, m
H	bed height, m
Ms	mass of the support particles, kg
rp	support particle radius, m
rb	bio particle density, kg/m3
rbw	biofilm density considered as 1000 kg/m3
rp	density of the particle, kg/m3

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