Phenolic Compounds Removal in Woodwaste Leachate by a Trickling Biofilter

Abstract

Woodwaste produces large volumes of leachate, which often contains high concentrations of phenolic compounds. These compounds necessitate appropriate management. Biological methods are efficient, innovative, and economic. In particular, biofiltration process has various advantages compared to CAS and MBR technologies. Two pilot filters, with and without biological activity, were designed for continuous mechanisms to follow. This study supposes that the three mechanisms of volatilization, sorption, and biodegradation are present, confirm these assumptions, and determine the contribution of each mechanism. Good efficiency was obtained in the biofilter and 97-98.2% of COD and BOD removal were observed, respectively. Excellent performances were achieved and reached 99.9% of initial concentrations removal for all the phenolic compounds.