Treatment of Wastewater Containing Aniline Using a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR)

In this research, the capability of the moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) for the treatment of aniline wastewater has been investigated. This compound is found in effluents from chemical, dye, pigment, herbicide, pharmaceutical, plastic, and paint industries. The moving bed biofilm reactor was developed to adopt the best features of the activated sludge process as well as those of the biofilter processes. In this study, a cylindrical moving bed biofilm reactor with an approximate capacity of 5 liters was used. The effects of LECA (Light Expanded Clay Aggregate) filling ratio and retention times (RT) of 8, 24, 48, and 72 hr were investigated on removal efficiency for different influent COD values. The best removal efficiency of 91% was obtained for a COD level of 2000 mg/L after 72 hour. Other experiments were conducted to evaluate the removal efficiency of the reactor under a decreased carrier volume of 30% and under continuous loading. NMR test results confirmed the capability of the reactor in the biodegradation of aniline. The capability of the reactor was also evaluated by feeding an organic shock that resulted in satisfactory performance of MBBR. The results showed that Grau and Stover-Kincannon were the best models to describe the biological kinetic data in this study