Biofilm formation monitoring using SEM in synthetic wastewater pollutant removal by combination of DAF and modified MBBR

Abstract

Nowadays, moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR) and dissolved air flotation (DAF) are frequently used in combination for the biological and physical treatments of synthetic oily wastes. The efficiency of the biocarriers utilized in MBBR is crucial since it has a big impact on the system's overall performance. A study was carried out utilizing a DAF-MBBR technique to treat synthetic oily wastewater in order to evaluate this. Two different kinds of biocarriers were used in this modified MBBR: polyethylene and plastic bottle caps. The result showed the DAF-MMBBRs process demonstrated excellent removal efficiencies for a range of parameters. Moreover, it seemed that DAF had higher COD, nitrite, nitrate, and turbidity removal efficiencies. For COD, the average removal efficiency was 39.62%; for oil and grease, it was 77.05%; and for ammonia, it was 39.71%. In the same way, MBBR1 is effective at eliminating phosphate, ammonia, TSS, and oil and grease. For COD, the average removal efficiency was 39.12%; for oil and grease, it was 94.10%; and for ammonia, it was 85.42%. The average removal efficiencies for COD, oil and grease, and ammonia in MMBBR2 were 38.76%, 84.95%, and 86.49%, respectively. Furthermore, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to assess the biofilm within the system. This revealed a well-developed biofilm layer on the interior surfaces of the biocarriers, improving the effectiveness of synthetic wastewater treatment. Excellent removal efficiencies were shown by the DAF-MBBR system for a range of parameters during a ten-day operational period.