Treatment of the refinery wastewater in a gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop bioreactor

Petroleum refineries produce large amount of wastewaters, which often contain a wide range of different compounds. Some of these constituents may be recalcitrant and therefore difficult to be treated biologically. This study evaluated the capability of an aerobic submerged fixed-bed reactor (ASFBR) containing a corrugated PVC support material for biofilm attachment to treat a complex and high-strength organic wastewater coming from a petroleum refinery. The reactor operation was divided into five experimental runs which lasted more than 250 days. During the reactor operation, the applied volumetric organic load was varied within the range of 0.5-2.4 kgCOD.m(-3).d(-1). Despite the inherent fluctuations on the characteristics of the complex wastewater and the slight decrease in the reactor performance when the influent organic load was increased, the ASFBR showed good stability and allowed to reach chemical oxygen demand, dissolved organic carbon and total suspended solids removals up to 91%, 90% and 92%, respectively. Appreciable ammonium removal was obtained (around 90%). Some challenging aspects of reactor operation such as biofilm quantification and important biofilm constituents (e.g. polysaccharides (PS) and proteins (PT)) were also addressed in this work. Average PS/volatile attached solids (VAS) and PT/VAS ratios were around 6% and 50%, respectively. The support material promoted biofilm attachment without appreciable loss of solids and allowed long-term operation without clogging. Microscopic observations of the microbial community revealed great diversity of higher organisms, such as protozoa and rotifers, suggesting that toxic compounds found in the wastewater were possibly removed in the biofilm.

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Biodegradation of Phenol Using ImmobilizedNocardia hydrocarbonoxydansin a Pulsed Plate Bioreactor: Effect of Packed Stages, Cell Carrier Loading, and Cell Acclimatization on Startup and Steady-State Behavior

Shetty

Yarangali

Srinikethan

2013

Bioremediation Journal

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Treatment of the refinery wastewater in a gas–liquid–solid three‐phase flow airlift loop bioreactor

Abstract: and 15 mg dm −3 respectively for more than 40 days, satisfying the national primary discharge standard of China (GB 8978-1996).

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

A review of recent advances in airlift reactors technology with emphasis on environmental remediation

A review of recent advances in airlift reactors technology with emphasis on environmental remediation

Treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater containing heavily polluting substances in an aerobic submerged fixed-bed reactor

Biodegradation of Phenol Using ImmobilizedNocardia hydrocarbonoxydansin a Pulsed Plate Bioreactor: Effect of Packed Stages, Cell Carrier Loading, and Cell Acclimatization on Startup and Steady-State Behavior

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