Abstract
The paper provides a critical comparison between mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic treatment of PTA wastewater through diagnosis of a case study. Aspects covered are bioavailability, biodegradability, microbial population, thermodynamics, kinetics involved and bio-reactor design for PTA wastewater treatment. The results of the case study suggests that one- stage thermophilic anaerobic reactor coupled with coagulation-flocculation pre-treatment unit and an aerobic post treatment unit could be techno-economically viable for PTA wastewater treatment to ensure that the final effluent quality conforms to the international standard. The in-formation emanated from this study could be useful and thought provoking to the professionals and academia in the area of PTA wastewater treatment and can serve as impetus toward the development of research lines in similar problems like the treatment of other petrochemical wastewater such as phenol-con- taining wastewater, benzene/benzoic acid-con- taining wastewater or wastewater from other similar industrial settings.
Highlights
In 1997, worldwide production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) was 18.22 million tons and it grew steadily to about 26.12 million tons in 2002 at an annual growth rate of 7.5% with China growth rate accounted for about2.6 million tons
The objective of this paper is to present a critical comparison between aerobic and anaerobic degradation of PTA wastewater with a view to furnishing the readers with useful information on PTA wastewater treatment and provoking their thought toward the application of the process to wastewater treatment from similar industrial settings
We concluded that anaerobic degradation of the wastewater is possible and feasible under both mesophilic and thermophilic conditions
Summary
In 1997, worldwide production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) was 18.22 million tons and it grew steadily to about 26.12 million tons in 2002 at an annual growth rate of 7.5% with China growth rate accounted for about. The toxic concentrations or doses of the pure chemical PTA were as high as over 1000 mg·L−1. Several methods such as, advanced oxidation processes (AOP), supercritical water oxidation, UV-assisted ozonation (UV/O3), ozone assisted photochemical oxidation (UV/O3/H2O2), photo-fenton oxidation(UV/H2O2/FeSO4), ozone-assisted pho-. Cost for treatment and generation of toxic intermediates and sludge, which in turn cause secondary pollution, have been identified as major limitations of these methods. To overcome these limitations, biodegradation technology has been proposed and used. Regarding the application of biodegradation technology for PTA wastewater treatment, activated sludge process (aerobic treatment) has been proposed and used [23]. The partition coefficient ( log kOW ) of TA has been reported to be 1.16 to 2.00 (depending on which isomer of TA and of the state of the isomer-dissociated or non-dissociated) [28]
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