TITLE:
Enhancing the Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrient from Wastewater by Using the Packed Bed Biological Reactor
AUTHORS:
Moayyed Shawaqfah
KEYWORDS:
Wastewater Treatment; Nutrient Removal; Packed Bed Reactor
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.5 No.4,
March
18,
2014
ABSTRACT: Packed
Bed biological Reactor (PBR) system has the potential to offer an effective and
low-cost technology for upgrading the conventional wastewater treatment
systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of PBR in
removing the organic matter and nutrient from different types of wastewater
(primary treatment effluent and secondary treatment effluent (exit of
biological unit)). The experiments were carried out in two laboratory-sized
reactors with 4 L in volume made of Plexiglas. The reactor was filled with PET
packing and the reactor was kept in a temperature-controlled water bath at
20°C. Wastewater samples used in this experiment were collected from Wadi
Al-Arab wastewater treatment plant in Irbid, Jordan. The concentrations of COD,
TN, and TP were 280 mg/l, 41.74 mg-N/l and 9 mg/l, respectively in the primary
effluents. Also, the concentrations of COD, TN, and TP were 58 mg/l, 61.55
mg-N/l and 33 mg/l, respectively in the secondary effluents. The removal
efficiencies of COD, TN, and TP were 52%, 52% and 79% respectively when using
the primary effluent as an influent to the reactor. On the other hand, when
using the secondary effluent as an influent to the reactor, the removal
efficiencies of COD, TN, and TP were 30%, 77%, and 81%, respectively. Thus,
this technique could be used as a posttreatment step for conventional
biological wastewater treatment.