International Journal of Applied Environmental Sciences

The completely mixed activated sludge process has attracted renewed attention of the researchers due to its effectiveness, both in terms of performance and cost. The high rate aeration activated sludge method holds a promise in treatment of distillery wastewater. HRAASP is a modification of the ASP in which high MLSS (Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids) concentrations are used with high volumetric loading. This combination allows high F/M ratio and Mean Cell Residence Time with relatively short Hydraulic Retention Time. Anaerobically treated spentwash having BOD₅ ranging from 1000 to 8000 mg/L needs further treatment. The high BOD wastewater was collected from the outlet of the Biogas plant of S.S.S. K. Ltd., Kopergaon, District Ahmed Nagar, and Maharashtra. The biokinetic theory, proposed by previous researchers, has been applied on the available data to determine the biokinetic constants. The biokinetic constants obtained for processing of distillery effluent can be very useful in design of wastewater treatment plants for such cases. The development of the biokinetic model for treatment of distillery wastewater is the first step towards design of a full-scale wastewater treatment plan. The development of such biokinetic model requires determination of the key biokinetic constants for the distillery wastewater. The raw data obtained from experimental runs with different MLSS concentrations on a bench scale model was used to determine these biokinetic coefficients. These biokinetic constants can now be directly used in the model equations included in the paper, to obtain the complete biokinetic model for treatment of distillery wastewater. This model can then be used to design a full-scale wastewater treatment plant for distillery effluent.