Determination of kinetic constants on thermophilic aerobic wastewater treatment of Kraft bleaching cellulose effluent

Abstract

Recalcitrant compounds found in pulp and paper mill effluents, which are usually generated at high temperatures, have shown the potential for thermophilic treatment. Using bleached kraft pulp mill effluents, this study aims to evaluate the acclimation conditions of mesophilic aerobic sludge to thermophilic conditions and determine the kinetic parameters. Two feeding strategies were used for this purpose: in the first approach, the first reactor R1 was fed with bleached kraft pulp effluent, while in the second strategy the reactor R2 was fed with easily biodegradable synthetic effluent and then the gradual substitution for bleached effluent was performed after sludge acclimation to a thermophilic environment. Both reactors were operated in batch at 55ºC. The second strategy has a slight advantage in COD (chemical oxygen demand) degradation and a considerable higher biomass production. The kinetic parameters (KS, µmax, Y, Kd) for both approaches were obtained using the Monod model. Those values indicated that the approach used for reactor R2 provided higher reaction speed.