Treatment of flotation wastewater using biological activated carbon

Abstract

A laboratory scale up-flow biological activated carbon (BAC) reactor was constructed for the advanced treatment of synthetic flotation wastewater. Biodegradation of a common collector (i.e., ethyl xanthate) for non-ferrous metallic ore flotation was evaluated. The results show that the two stages of domestication can improve microbial degradation ability. The BAC reactor obtains a chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction rate of 82.5% for ethyl xanthate and its effluent COD concentration lowers to below 20 mg/L. The kinetics equation of the BAC reactor proves that the activated carbon layers at the height of 0 mm to 70 mm play a key role in the removal of flotation reagents. Ultraviolet spectral analysis indicates that most of the ethyl xanthate are degraded by microorganisms after advanced treatment by the BAC reactor.

Keywords

flotation wastewater / biological activated carbon / biodegradation / chemical oxygen demand

References

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