Effect of temperature on the efficiency of the thermo- and mesophilic aerobic batch biodegradation of high-strength distillery wastewater (potato stillage)

The objective of the study was to assess the effect of temperature on the extent of aerobic batch biodegradation of potato stillage with a mixed culture of bacteria of the genus Bacillus. The experiments were performed in a 5-l stirred-tank reactor at 20, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 63 and 65 °C with the pH of 7. Only at 65 °C, no reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) was found to occur. Over the temperature range of 20–63 °C, the removal efficiency was very high (with an extent of COD reduction following solids separation that varied between 77.57% and 89.14% after 125 h). The process ran at the fastest rate when the temperature ranged from 30 to 45 °C; after 43 h at the latest, COD removal amounted to 90% of the final removal efficiency value obtained for the process. At 20, 55, 60 and 63 °C, a 90% removal was attained after 80 h. Two criteria were proposed for the identification of the point in time when the process is to terminate. One of these consists in maximising the product of the extent of COD reduction and the extent of N-NH4 content reduction. The other criterion is a simplified one and involves the search for the minimal value of N-NH4 concentration.