Nitrate increases the capacity of an aerobic moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) for winery wastewater treatment

We used bench-scale tests and mathematical modeling to explore chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates in a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) for winery wastewater treatment, using either urea or nitrate as a nitrogen source. With urea addition, the COD removal fluxes ranged from 34 to 45 gCOD/m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water science and technology 2024-03, Vol.89 (6), p.1454-1465
Main Authors: Walker, Patricio, Nerenberg, Robert, Pizarro, Gonzalo, Aybar, Marcelo, Pavissich, Juan Pablo, González, Bernardo, Pastén, Pablo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biofilms
bod removal
denitrification
kinetics
modeling
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We used bench-scale tests and mathematical modeling to explore chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates in a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) for winery wastewater treatment, using either urea or nitrate as a nitrogen source. With urea addition, the COD removal fluxes ranged from 34 to 45 gCOD/m -d. However, when nitrate was added, fluxes increased up to 65 gCOD/m -d, twice the amount reported for aerobic biofilms for winery wastewater treatment. A one-dimensional biofilm model, calibrated with data from respirometric tests, accurately captured the experimental results. Both experimental and modelling results suggest that nitrate significantly increased MBBR capacity by stimulating COD oxidation in the deeper, oxygen-limited regions of the biofilm. Our research suggests that the addition of nitrate, or other energetic and broadly used electron acceptors, may provide a cost-effective means of covering peak COD loads in biofilm processes for winery or another industrial wastewater treatment.
ISSN:0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI:10.2166/wst.2024.060