Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
583240 | Journal of Hazardous Materials | 2008 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
This paper evaluated the effect of mixing the effluent of a pharmaceutical plant producing acetylsalicylic acid with tannery wastewater, on the biodegradation of the effluents. The evaluation involved the analysis of the oxygen uptake rate (OUR), profiles of each wastewater and the mixture by respirometry. Model calibration using the experimental OUR data identified major COD fractions and associated process kinetics for all samples analyzed. The tannery sample was a plain-settled effluent having a total COD of around 2200Â mg/L with a readily biodegradable fraction of 15%. The same fraction was 57% in the pharmaceutical wastewater sample having a much stronger total COD content of 40,435Â mg/L. Consequently, mixing of the pharmaceutical effluent with the tannery wastewater up to 38% of the total COD in the mixture increased the readily biodegradable COD fraction but had an inhibitory effect on the biodegradation kinetics. This effect was relatively lower on growth, but quite significant on the hydrolysis of the slowly biodegradable COD decreasing the maximum hydrolysis rate from 2.0Â dayâ1 to 1.2Â dayâ1. Model evaluation of the respirometric data, as performed in this study sets a workable protocol for the assessment of the compatibility of different wastewater mixtures for biological treatability.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Health and Safety
Authors
Emine Ubay Cokgor, Ozlem Karahan, Derin Orhon,