Enhancing the Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrient from Wastewater by Using the Packed Bed Biological Reactor

Abstract

Packed Bed biological Reactor (PBR) system has the potential to offer an effective and low-cost technology for upgrading the conventional wastewater treatment systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of PBR in removing the organic matter and nutrient from different types of wastewater (primary treatment effluent and secondary treatment effluent (exit of biological unit)). The experiments were carried out in two laboratory-sized reactors with 4 L in volume made of Plexiglas. The reactor was filled with PET packing and the reactor was kept in a temperature-controlled water bath at 20°C. Wastewater samples used in this experiment were collected from Wadi Al-Arab wastewater treatment plant in Irbid, Jordan. The concentrations of COD, TN, and TP were 280 mg/l, 41.74 mg-N/l and 9 mg/l, respectively in the primary effluents. Also, the concentrations of COD, TN, and TP were 58 mg/l, 61.55 mg-N/l and 33 mg/l, respectively in the secondary effluents. The removal efficiencies of COD, TN, and TP were 52%, 52% and 79% respectively when using the primary effluent as an influent to the reactor. On the other hand, when using the secondary effluent as an influent to the reactor, the removal efficiencies of COD, TN, and TP were 30%, 77%, and 81%, respectively. Thus, this technique could be used as a posttreatment step for conventional biological wastewater treatment.