Anaerobic treatment of winery wastewater in moving bed biofilm reactors

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe treatment of winery wastewater in two anaerobic moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) (R9 and R30) with low-density polyethylene carriers differing in size, shape, structure, and specific surface area was investigated. The carrier packed in R9 was bioflow 9 with diameter of 9 mm, height of 7 mm, density of 0.84 g/cm3, and specific surface area of 800 m2/m3, while the carrier filled in R30 was bioflow 30 with diameter of 29–35 mm, height of 29 mm, density of 0.94 g/cm3, and specific surface area of 320 m2/m3. Both reactors were run in parallel for 232 days. A maximum organic loading rate (OLR) of 29.59 g COD/L day with more than 80% soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency was achieved in R9 at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1.55 days, whereas a maximum OLR of 18.43 g COD/L d with 80% soluble COD reduction was attained in R30 at HRT of 2.49 days. Biogas production of each reactor was increased and strongly correlated with its OLR. The experimental results showed that R9 performed...