Aerobic Treatment of Distillery Wastewater in a Three Phase Fluidized Bed Biofilm Reactor

The aerobic treatment of distillery wastewater was investigated in a three phase fluidized bed biofilm reactor (TPFBBR) in which calcium alginate beads were fluidized by an upward cocurrent flow of gas and liquid. Measurements of chemical oxygen demand (COD) versus hydraulic retention time t were performed for various solid support particle bed heights, various age of the inoculum and for various volumetric organic loading rates to determine the optimal operating parameters for a reactor. Experiments were carried out in the bioreactor at a fixed bed height, after the formation of biofilm on the surface of support particles. Pure culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used. From the results it was observed that the optimum bed height for the maximum COD reduction was found to be 6 cm. COD reduction increased with the increase in the age of inoculum. The optimum volumetric organic loading rate for this reactor was found to be 256410 Kg COD/m³ day. The optimum COD removal of 44.5% occurred for the hydraulic retention time of 8 hours when the reactor is operated under optimum conditions.