ISSN 2375-1266
African Journal of Environmental and Waste Management ISSN: 2375-1266 Vol. 3 (3), pp. 169-173, March, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
A study of the treatment of high strength nitrate and high salinity wastewater using a packed bed bioreactor filled with clinoptilolite as a carrier
*1Niusha B. Namdari, 1Abdolali A. Dabir and Mohsen Abbasi2
1Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Payame Noor University, Iran.
2Department of Environmental Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
*Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 17 August, 2014
Abstract
The aim of the present work was to study the treatment of high strength nitrate, high salinity wastewater using a packed bed bioreactor filled with clinoptilolite as a carrier. Biological denitrification was monitored at different loadings rates (0.8-4 kg NO3-/m3·d) and salinities (10-40 g L-1). The experiments were carried out at an ambient temperature of 25 °C with synthetic wastewater. The denitrification rate, COD consumption, and nitrite accumulations were response parameters. In the experimental conditions, a maximum denitrification rate of 3.72 kg NO3-/(m3·d) was achieved with ethanol as a carbon source and salinity at 10g L-1. During denitrification, no more than 0.1 mg NO2- L-1 could be accumulated. This work demonstrates that biological denitrification with the denitrifier attached to clinoptilolite in a packed bed bioreactor can be a promising method for denitrifying brine wastewater.
Key words: Denitrification, Wastewater, Packed bed, Clinoptilolite, Salinity.