Phenol‐ and Thiocyanate‐Based Wastewater Treatment in RBC Reactor
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 122, Issue 10
Abstract
A laboratory-scale investigation at ambient temperature was performed to examine the applicability of a four-stage across-the-flow rotating biological contactor (RBC) reactor for the treatment of synthetic wastewater containing phenol and thiocyanate. The composition was so maintained that the phenol to thiocyanate ratio approximated that usually found in coal carbonization effluent. In the combined treatment of the toxicants, it was noted that the toxicants were removed in sequence. Phenol was mostly removed in the earlier (first and second) stages, while thiocyanate-fed microbes acted more efficiently in the latter stages (third and fourth). The overall reaction rate coefficient for phenol biodegradation ( K PH) varied in the range of 10.20–3.50 g/m 2⋅d in presence of 0–240 g/m 3 of influent thiocyanate concentration. The same coefficient for thiocyanate biodegradation ( K TH) was found to be in the range of 8.20–0.30 g/m 2⋅d in presence of 0–240 g/m 3 of influent phenol concentration. The effects of various operating and process parameters such as disk rotational speed, temperature of the reactor liquid, and substrate load on the removal of phenol and thiocyanate were also examined. The microbes, predominantly found in the earlier stages, were identified as Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas stutzeri and Candida tropicalis, whereas in the latter stages, Thiobacillus thioparus and Nocardia sp. populations predominated.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Andreadakis, A. D.(1987). “Design of multistage rotating biological contactors.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 113(1), 199–205.
2.
Antonie, R. L. (1976). Fixed biological surface-wastewater treatment, the rotating biological contactor. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Fla.
3.
APHA-AWWA-WPCF. (1989). “Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.” Am. Public Health Assoc., New York, N.Y.
4.
Borghi, M. D., Palazzi, E., Parisi, F., and Ferraiolo, G.(1985). “Influence of process variables on the modelling and design of a rotating biological surface.”J. Water Res., 19, 573–580.
5.
Eckenfelder, W. W. (1989). Industrial water pollution control, international student edition. McGraw-Hill Book Publishing Co., Singapore.
6.
Gantzer, C. J.(1989). “Inhibitory substrate utilization by steady-state bio-film.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 115(2), 302–319.
7.
Grady, C. P. L. Jr.(1990). “Bio-degradation of toxic organics: status and potential.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 116(5), 805–827.
8.
Kostenbader, P. D., and Flecksteiner, J. W.(1969). “Biological oxidation of coke plant weak ammonia liquor.”J. Water Pollution Control Federation, 41(1), 199–207.
9.
Kumaran, P. (1980). “Microbial degradation of phenol in phenol bearing industrial wastes,” PhD thesis, Nagpur Univ., Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
10.
Lullai, A., and Mura, G. (1989). “Kinetics of growth for mixed cultures of micro-organisms growing on phenol.”Chem. Engrg. J. and Biochem. J., 41(3), B55–B60.
11.
McAliley, J. E.(1974). “A pilot plant study of a rotating biological surface for secondary treatment of unbleached kraft mill waste.”Tappi, 57(9), 106–111.
12.
Neufeld, R. D., Mattson, L., and Lubon, P.(1981). “Thiocyanate bio-oxidation kinetics.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 107, 1035–1049.
13.
Neufeld, R. D., and Valiknac, T.(1979). “Inhibition of phenol bio-degradation by thiocyanate.”J. Water Pollution Control Federation, 51, 2283–2291.
14.
Pan, B., and Hartmann, L.(1992). “Activity of biomass in RBC system treating pulp industrial wastewater.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 118(5), 744–754.
15.
Richards, D. J. (1987). “Performance evaluation and steady-state kinetics of the microbial degradation of phenolic, cyanic, ammoniacal wastewater in activated sludge systems,” PhD thesis, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
16.
Shivaraman, N., Kumaran, P., Pandey, R. A., Chatterjee, S. K., Chowdhury, K. R., and Parhad, N. M. (1985). “Microbial degradation of thiocyanate, phenol, and cyanide in a completely mixed aeration system.”Envir. Pollution Ser., U.K., A 39, 141–150.
17.
Shivaraman, N., Kumaran, P., and Prahad, N. M. (1978). “Phenol degradation by Candida tropicalis and influence of other toxicants.”Indian J. Envir. Health, E20(2), 101–111.
18.
Smith, E. D. (1980). Proc., 1st Nat. Symp./Workshop on Rotating Biol. Contactor Technol., U.S. Army Constr. Engrg. Res. Lab., Seven Springs, Pa.
19.
Staley, J. T. (1989). Bergy's manual of systemic bacteriology, Volume 3 & 4. Williams and Wilkins Publ., U.K.
20.
Stevens, D. K.(1988). “Interaction of mass transfer and inhibition in biofilms.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 114(6), 1352–1358.
21.
Wilson, F.(1993). “Prediction of RBC efficiency using TOC.”J. Envir. Engrg., ASCE, 119(3), 478–492.
22.
Yang, R. D., and Humphrey, A. E.(1975). “Dynamic and steady-state studies of phenol degradation in pure and mixed cultures.”J. Biotechnol. Bioengrg., 17, 1211–1235.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 1996
Published in print: Oct 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.