Decoloration of textile wastewater by means of a fluidized-bed loop reactor and immobilized anaerobic bacteria

Textile wastewater was treated by means of a fluidized-bed loop reactor and immobilized anaerobic bacteria. The main target of this treatment was decoloration of the wastewater and transformation of the non-biodegradable azo-reactive dyes to the degradable, under aerobic biological conditions, aromatic amines. Special porous beads (Siran®) were utilized as the microbial carriers. Acetic acid solution, enriched with nutrients and trace elements, served both as a pH-regulator and as an external substrate for the growth of methanogenic bacteria. The above technique was firstly applied on synthetic wastewater (an aqueous solution of a mixture of different azo-reactive dyes). Hydraulic residence time was gradually decreased from 24 to 6 h over a period of 3 months. Full decoloration of the wastewater could be achieved even at such a low hydraulic residence time (6 h), while methane-rich biogas was also produced. The same technique was then applied on real textile wastewater with excellent results (full decoloration at a hydraulic residence time of 6 h). Furthermore, the effluent proved to be highly biodegradable by aerobic microbes (activated-sludge). Thus, the above-described anaerobic/aerobic biological technique seems to be a very attractive method for treating textile wastewater since it is cost-effective and environment-friendly.