Effect of Organic Loading Rates on biodegradation of linear alkyl benzene sulfonate, oil and grease in greywater by Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge (IFAS)

In this study, performance of Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge (IFAS) system in treatment of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS), and oil & grease in synthetic greywater and effect of Organic Loading Rates (OLRs) on removal efficiency within a period of 105 days were investigated. Present study was carried out in a pilot scale under such conditions as temperature of 30 ± 1 °C, dissolved oxygen of 2.32 ± 0.91 mg/l, pH of 8.01 ± 0.95 and OLRs of 0.11-1.3gCOD/L.d. Also, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images were employed to specify rate of the biofilm formed on the media inside the reactor IFAS. The best removal efficiency for COD, LAS and oil and grease were respectively obtained as 92.52%, 94.24% and 90.07% in OLR 0.44gCOD/L.d. The assessment of loading rate indicated that with increased OLR to 0.44gCOD/L.d, removal efficiency of COD, oil and grease was increased while with increased OLR, removal efficiency was decreased. In doing so, based on the statistical test ANOVA, such a difference between removal efficiencies in diverse OLRs was significant for COD (p = 0.003), oil and grease (p = 0.01). However, in terms of LAS, with increased value of OLR to 0.44gCOD/L.d, the removal efficiency was increased and then with higher OLRs, removal efficiency was slightly decreased that is insignificant (p = 0.35) based on the statistical test ANOVA. The SEM images also showed that the biofilm formed on the media inside IFAS reactor plays a considerable role in adsorption and biodegradation of LAS, and oil & grease in greywater. The linear relation between inlet COD values and rate of removed LAS indicated that the ratio of inlet COD (mg/L) to removed LAS (mg/L) was 0.4. Therefore, use of IFAS system for biodegradation of LAS, oil and grease in greywater can be an applicable option.