Abstract
Poultry slaughterhouse wastewater contains high concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSSs), fats, oil and grease (FOG), proteins and carbohydrates. It is important that the wastewater is treated to acceptable environmental discharge standards. In this study, the poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) was treated using two-stage processes consisting of a biological pre-treatment using a biodegrading agent (Eco-flushTM) coupled with a down-flow expanded granular bed reactor (DEGBR). The results showed that the biological pre-treatment was observed to be highly effective for removal of FOG, COD and TSS with a removal efficiency of 80 ± 6.3%, 38 ± 8.4% and 56 ± 7.2%, respectively. The DEGBR showed a stable performance in terms FOG, COD and, TSS removal, with average removal efficiencies of 89 ± 2.8%, 87 ± 9.5%, and 94 ± 3.7%, respectively. The overall removal rate performance of the integrated system of pre-treatment and DEGBR in terms FOG, COD and TSS, was 97 ± 0.8%, 92 ± 6.3% and 97 ± 1.2%. Furthermore, the average volatile fatty acid/alkalinity (VFA/Alkalinity) ratio of 0.2 was reported, which indicated that the DEGBR was stable throughout the operation.
Highlights
The meat processing industry is one of the largest consumers of freshwater in the agricultural sector [1]
Poultry slaughterhouse industries use a considerable amount of portable water during processing of live birds to consumable meat, which results in the production of high volumes of poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) [2]
The graphs in theatfirst the variation of the concentration of each water quality parameter therow inletillustrate of the system, while of the concentration of each water quality parameter at the inlet of the system, the the graphs in the second row provide the wastewater quality parameters at while the outlet graphs in the second row provide the wastewater quality parameters at the outlet of the of the treatment unit, and the graphs in the last row provide the variation of the treatment unit, and the indicated graphs in parameter
Summary
The meat processing industry is one of the largest consumers of freshwater in the agricultural sector [1]. Poultry slaughterhouse industries use a considerable amount of portable water during processing of live birds to consumable meat, which results in the production of high volumes of poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) [2]. The rising demand of poultry produce requires an increase in poultry slaughterhouses’ ability to treat high volumes of PSW [3]. Poultry slaughterhouse effluent is difficult to treat, and it requires multiple treatment steps before it can safely be discharged to the environment, due to the high amount of organic matter, FOG and nutrients contained therein [4]. As per the South African department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2014) report, the production of poultry meat has been one of the leading purchased items among South The challenge is that the organic matter, toxic pollutants and large particles in raw PSW are toxic to the environment, and cause clogging of bioreactors [5].
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