Preparation of paper mill sludge-based granular activated carbon fillers for fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBBR)

Abstract

Paper mill sludge (PMS) was utilized to prepare granular activated carbon (GAC) fillers for fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBBR) through stream activation. The properties of the PMS were tested and the optimum conditions for the production process were determined. Then, the GAC fillers were used in the FBBR to investigate the capacity for wastewater treatment. The results showed that the optimal conditions were: carbonization temperature of 450 °C, carbonization time of 50 min, activation temperature of 800 °C and activation time of 60 min. The specific surface area of the GAC fillers was 130 m2/g and the grain density was 1.34×103 kg/m3. The wastewater treatment results showed that after 40 days of running, under the conditions of influent COD of 800 mg/L and HRT of 2 h, the COD removal efficiency was about 90%, which demonstrated that PMS-based GAC fillers were feasible for FBBR.